Metempsychosis
by SomeoneThatExists
Summary: So I died and went to a different world, ended up as a spazzy teen's younger sister and saved the world along with said spazzy teen. The end. Oh, I was joking, I mean there's gotta be more to the story than that, right? I mean, I certainly didn't mention the tall-as-houses robots wrecking our garden and destroying dad's beloved path...
1. Prologue

**Hi guys! Welcome to my new fic! I know I got another one but well, I kind of lost my muse back then so I decided to work on this. I'll definitely get back on that though.**

**I'm still kind of new at this so please bear with me, constructive criticisms would be very helpful!**

**By the way, OC alert here, if you guys don't like it, then please don't read! It's basically about a transfan who gets reincarnated as Sam's sister. I know the idea is a bit overused (wait, is it?), but I really couldn't help it!**

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_**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS, I ONLY OWN MY OC!_

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Prologue

…

I died.

Plain and simple, I know.

I know it's quite hard to believe but that was what really happened.

Now, why did I die?

Well, that's kind of an easy question. It was an accident, actually.

As for how: well, I only noticed the bus at the last minute when someone, I don't know who, shouted at me to watch out. I turned my head and got a faceful of that bus instead.

I _know_ I wasn't run over, cuz I bounced back a few feet and heard the brakes screeching, as hazy as my mind was back then. People were screaming and I felt shoes pounding on the concrete. The pain though, was very hard to ignore, so I tried to focus on the ground.

It reminded me of the time when I was a child. I was playing with my brother's Lego blocks and one of the single brick ones had rolled under the couch. Dad's feet were up on the table and I remember giggling as I crawled underneath them and put my head on the tile, trying to feel around for it. I had my ear on the floor and heard this weird rumbling sort of sound.

I was a curious one, so I ended up staying there for a bit, trying to figure out what it is. When I was right there on the ground, dying with my blood pooling around me, I heard that strange rumbling sound again. Vaguely, I wondered again what it was.

It wasn't long before I succumbed to the pain and closed my eyes.

The blurry images disappeared and the sounds faded out to silence.

My status as dying got moved down to dead in a matter of seconds.

Then...nothing.

...To be honest though…it felt kind of cliché...

...Almost.

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**Good? Bad? Needs a lot more work? Very bad? Opinions (reviews...hinthintnudgenudge) would be welcomed with opened arms and flames will be ignored as much as possible.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! XD**

**So first of all, thank you for the reviews and faves and follows! I really appreciate it! :3**

**Second, does anyone know what year in high school Sam was when the first movie started? I think I can guess-timate like, 5th year? Well, that was my brother's estimate anyway, but I wanted to make sure, what do you guys think?**

**Nothing else to say for now, so I won't hold you guys back...**

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_**Disclaimer:**__ I STILL DON'T OWN TRANSFORMERS BUT I OWN MY OC!_

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**Chapter 1**

...

The first time I regained my consciousness, my mind felt muddled and vague, like a great fog had settled in. I felt numb over all and I thought I was in a hospital or something similar. I felt too tired to try and move, even just trying to open my eyes felt like prying something from a tub of dried super glue so I just left my eyes close. I drifted off to sleep after a few moments, wondering how they managed to save me when I was sure that I had died.

The next time I woke up, I could feel a bit of my hands but I still couldn't open my eyes. Whatever control I had on my arms were absent and only managed to jerk the appendages and whatever I felt was really weird. Like a liquid goop-slime thing that I could swear smelt nearly coppery. I couldn't do anything else though so I resigned to the idleness in wherever I was (pretty sure I wasn't in the hospital anymore).

I woke up to something strange hovering out of reach. It almost felt like it was pressing in on me even though I had regained most of my senses and was pretty sure that there was nothing there. I _still_ couldn't open my eyes so I settled for trying to kick whatever it was. My half-numb foot met something that _stretched_ that wasn't rubber or anything I know and I immediately drew it back because whatever I kicked, that thing hovering out of reach, pressed back and I nearly died again in surprise when I heard some voice, _voices_ actually, echoing just out of reach.

_"Oh my, that was a strong one!"_

_"I know! She's been kicking a lot more these days..."_

_"It's nearly time right? You'd better have Ron nearby then, even little Sammy can help! It's near his school's summer vacation right?"_

_"Oh yes, little Sammy can't wait for her actually! He keeps on trying to feel her inside, he says he heard her talking to him!"_

The two feminine voices laughed and a distinctly male voice joined in.

_"Yes well, it's pretty obvious that the two'll be really close. He's already proclaimed that he would be the 'bestest, greatest brother' and got five dollars from his uncle for it."_

_"Oh dear, I do hope he doesn't try to talk you two into letting the little one stay in his room."_

_"Hopefully not, Sammy's a bit stubborn but Ron's worse. He won't have a chance at all, most likely."_

_"Judy, if anything, you're the one much more stubborn than I am."_

_"Oh you hypocrite."_

They laughed again and one of the female voices spoke.

_"By the way Judy, about those seeds you were talking about..."_

I lost track of the conversation at that and wondered what on earth they were talking about and why the names seemed so familiar.

I couldn't think of anything else though since that one kick already took a lot out of me and and the surprise brought by the three voices just made my head ache and made me feel tired. I just decided to ponder on it another time and returned to sleep.

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The next time I was woken up, _again_, everything around me seemed to move. The strange goop-covered walls I had felt around me were just..._moving_. As in all of it, everywhere, it was all moving.

The next few moments...minutes, hours, whatever it is, was all a weird combination that I truly couldn't interpret. It just felt like I was being squeezed out head-first and the goop I had felt on those rubbery walls suddenly seemed like it was around me, like I was _submerged_ in it.

I couldn't help it: I started panicking.

Vaguely, I heard someone screaming in pain in the background but I was too panicked to even notice because I was having my own predicament.

'_God, if you're still there, please PLEASE help me out of this! I have no idea what's happening!'_ I had ended up praying. Well what do you expect? I really had no idea what was happening and since I pretty much couldn't do anything, so I just settled for hoping that nothing bad was happening.

It was a very long time before the atmosphere changed. Suddenly, everything was brightbright_BRIGHT_ and there was so much noise that it seriously hurt my ears. I began crying, even if I didn't want to. _'What the hell is happening now?'_, I had thought back then.

The images were blurry when I managed to open my eyes, but it focused soon enough even though it still hurts. What I saw made me panic again.

There were _giants_. As in very very very big humans. EVERYWHERE._  
_

I don't know what exactly happened next but I think I fainted.

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The next time I woke up, I kept my eyes closed as I thought back on what happened.

I was in that strange goop covered place.

I was most likely submerged in that strange goop (the thought made me inwardly blanch and my thoughts ended up going haywire, I mean, I might've been made a_ science experiment_ for all I know).

When I was out of that goop-covered place, I saw giants.

GIANT HUMANS.

God, this line of thinking is just making me feel faint. Again.

For some strange reason my mind went back to all those fanfictions I read about the OC dying and being born again.

...that sounds awfully familiar.

I opened my eyes before that particular line of thought caused mayhem in my already-fragile state of mind (I mean, I saw _giants_! What the hell am I gonna think about that?!)

I saw pink.

No really, I did see pink. The ceiling was a rosy pink, and I thanked whatever gods there are that it wasn't an eye-burning hot pink. There was a reason it was called _hot_ pink, you know.

I looked around and saw that I was in a white bed with very high walls. I honestly don't know what to feel about that. I thought I was in jail because of the bars, though if I _really_ think about it, I would say I was in a cradle. A baby's cradle.

...wait.

I held up my hands and saw them covered with pink mittens.

Mittens.

I wrestled off one of them (which felt like it took the better half of a day) and stared blankly at the pudgy hand.

Which were very small.

...did I mention they were small?

I changed views and looked at myself.

...WHY THE -BEEP- WAS I A BABY?!

Suddenly everything made sense. The goopy walls, the echo-y voices, the pink ceiling, the mittens, everything!

I had a sudden mind blank afterwards. I mean, what am I supposed to do now? As I pondered on this, I just decided to hell with it (well that decision didn't take long), I'll just go with the flow for now.

...The goop still scares me though.

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**Opinions? Thanks for reading! **


	3. Chapter 2

**HEEEY GUYS! I feel so great right now! There's lots of new favers and followers (that word doesn't seem right on this site for some reason) so fanfare for them! *cue cheesy band music and audience clapping***

**I don't have anything to say though so I guess I won't hold you guys back anymore.**

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_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Transformers, only my OC and this fic.  
_

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**Chapter 2**

...

Going with the flow turned out to be slightly harder than I thought it would be. Finding out that you're the potential heroine, sister to the protagonist, of a movie from another dimension takes time to digest. I only realized after I saw a mini-Shia LaBeouf staring at me intently as I was breast fed (now _that_ was very scary; I am forever traumatized) by actress Julie White (you know, Judy Witwicky?) with Kevin Dunn (actor who played Ron Witwicky) watching TV in the other room.

I am proud to say that I didn't faint this time. I just choked on my milk and made a mess everywhere.

Sam laughed at me though (a not-so-manly giggle which is still excusable for his age). I sense a bully growing somewhere in there...

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**Age: 2**

Sam's always at home. Mom and Dad (still trying to get used to calling them that) loved doting on me. Well, Judy did. I loved getting lightly tossed up and down by Ron too.

I was having a bit of a personality problem though. My thought processes were often somewhat similar to _omgomgomgI'm inthetransformersuniverse,thebayverseohgawdwhatshouldIdowhatshouldIdo—BWAHAHAHAHA!STAHP WITH THE TICKLES! STAHP IT! BWAHAHAHAAA! _or there was this one time, _shouldItellwhenI'molder?wouldtheyevenbelieveme?whatshouldIdowhatshouldIdoooooo—oh hey, a butterfly! _er...you get what I mean. My baby personality, little Carol Witwicky, and teenager insanity, named Nicky Harrison, were clashing with my transfan side joining in and throwing pink Bumblebee grenades to further up the chaos.

...don't even try to understand how the pink Bumblebee grenades work.

Anyway, at age one and a half, I said my first word.

Which actually isn't my first word. I mean, I'm a teenager in a baby body, I could pull off prodigy legitimately, so it would make sense that I could have the ability to speak as soon as my vocal cords were well-developed. My first words were less than admirable though, since I had accidentally ended up cursing in my tinny baby voice when I woke myself up with a stubbed toe on the bars. I was lucky that Judy was preparing something in the kitchen and was too busy to hear me.

My 'first' word was "'Thammy" ("Sammy") when I was squishing the face of the horrendous pink teddy bear some distant uncle gave to me to 7-year-old Sam's unrecognizable Lego tower (it would have passed off as a cheap Leog replica of the Eiffel Tower if it wasn't rainbow-colored; Sam's got hidden Lego-building talent in there).

Judy had _squealed_. Either that or I heard a pterodactyl screech. It made Ron drop his wine on the plush white carpet (later, Ron decided to give Judy a chance before he starts blaming her for the mess when she was using up one roll of film every other minute, I swear I can still see the camera flashes when I close my eyes).

"'Tham."

"Yeah Carol?"

"'m h'ngry. Fweed me."

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**Age: 5**

"SAAAAAAM!"

"WHAAAAFT?!"

"WHERE ARE MY COOKIES?!"

"I HAF NO IDEA!"

"..."

"..."

"...MOOOOOM! SAM ATE MY COOKIES AGAIN!"

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**Age: 7**

"Mom, Dad, can I have a piano?"

"What?"

"Why would you want one sweetie?"

"I wanna play the piano. Sam says he's gonna play the guitar. We'll do duets."

"Oh that's so sweet!"

"Judy..."

"Oh come now Ron, besides, she's excelling her classes! Besides she doesn't ask for much does she? Think of it as an early birthday gift."

"_Sigh_...Okay, okay, we'll take her out shopping this weekend."

"I want a guitar for Sam too."

"Carol, he doesn't have grades as good as you. If he wants a guitar, he'll have to work for it on his own and prove to us that he deserves it."

I nod in agreement and made plans to tutor Sam, creating up a schedule for studying as I walked back up the stairs to my and Sam's room.

And so started my 'Working on my Talents' plan which included adding more than a few skills to my arsenal for the coming alien, robot war. The instruments were just for background music though, heheh.

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**Age: 12**

My Sam was very different from the one they portrayed in the movies. He was a bit more proper, cleaner (though I think that's just because we share the same room, I put my foot down every time he starts cluttering up the place) and he was quieter. He still rambles from time to time though and he's still as spazzy as ever, but then he wouldn't be Sam if he wasn't.

Sam and I met Miles when we were in 7th grade. I was 8, Sam was 13 and Miles was 12. The only reason we were in the same class was that I managed to pull off prodigy when I was in Grade 2 and skipped levels so that Sam and I could stay together. And I also managed to hit puberty early, so I was more than tall enough to tower over people. It helped a lot in the varsities I joined. Mom and Dad were ecstatic and we had a family party just to celebrate it. I let Sam have most of the cake as long I got the ice cream all to myself.

Then came the time in 11th grade, when Sam and Dad had a deal. Sam needed 2000 dollars and three A's for Dad to buy him his first car.

Ahhhh, and so it begins.

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**This chapter any good? Opinions would be real appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 3

**You guys are awesome! **

**Thanks for all the reviews and the new followers!**

**By the way, I made a minor mistake at the last chapter, this is their 11th grade, not 10th grade. I went back and fixed it now already. And there aren't any major changes here yet aside from the comments of our little Carol, so everything is still canon. For now, anyways.**

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_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Transformers, only my OC and this fic._

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**Chapter 3**

...

"Okay, Mr. Witwicky, you're up."

I watched silently as Sam lugged his backpack to the front, glancing back at the teacher (couldn't care at all for his name) before dumping his stuff on the table, muttering, "Sorry, I got a lot of stuff."

I knew what was coming next and glanced back at Trent who whispered, "Watch." to Mikaela before loading a rubber band on fingers.

"So for my family gen—", and Sam was cut off when the rubber band hit his lower left jaw. The whole class laughed except me. I just sighed at the events and decided to just let it go canon for now.

The teacher stood up, sputtering. "Who—who did that? People! Responsibility." His lessons were as boring as his looks. Speaking of, I eyed my brown-black locks with disdain. They were way too long to be practical, reaching mid-back. I made a note to visit a barber shop sometime in the future, hopefully before stuff (alien robot war) begin to escalate.

Sam started on his presentation when the laughter died down and the teacher returned to his seat. "So for my family genealogy report, I decided to do it on my great-great grandfather, who was, uh, a famous man. Captain Archibald Witwicky. Very famous explorer. In fact, he was one of the first to explore the Arctic Circle, which is a big deal." Here, he held up one of the maps depicting the Arctic Circle.

"In 1897, he took 41 brave sailors straight into the arctic shelf..."

I breathed deeply and my sight unfocused as I remembered the movie, imagining the Captain with his sailors hacking away at the ice, the Captain shouting about the ice freezing faster than it was melting and the Witwicky family motto, 'No sacrifice, no victory.'

"So that's the story right?" Sam's voice interrupted my daydreaming and I focused back at him, watching silently as he changed locations to show the class the items he brought. "And here we have some of the basic instruments and tools used by 19th century seamen."

The class laughed at the word and the teacher raised the little sign he uses, the one with the word 'quiet' on it which was about as useful as an ice cube in a desert. "This here's the quadrant, which you can get for 80 bucks; it's all for sale by the way. Like the sextant," The class laughed again and the teacher had to raise the little sign, again, "Here, 50 dollars for this which is a bargain."

I had to bite on my lip to keep from groaning in embarrassment. Sam did stuff so shamelessly enough for the both of us, heck maybe even for the whole Witwicky family.

"Here, this is pretty cool. This is my grandfather's eyeglasses. I haven't quite gotten them appraised yet, but they've seen many cool things."

"Are you going to sell me his liver?" the teacher interrupted. I sighed just for the heck of it. Why did I have a brother like that? "Mr. Witwicky, this isn't the show and sell, it's the 11th grade. I don't think your grandfather would be particularly proud of what you're doing."

Sam barely had anything apologetic in his expression as he apologized. "I know, I'm sorry. I just, you know, this is all going towards my car fund. You can tell your folks, it's on eBay. I take Paypal, cold hard cash works too." Shameless man, he is. The teacher agrees if his exasperated sigh was a sign. "And the compass makes a great gift for Columbus day."

"Sam!"

"Sorry. Unfortunately, my great-great grandfather, genius that he was, wound up going blind and crazy in a psycho ward, drawing these strange symbols and babbling on about some giant ice man that he thought he'd discovered."

At the exact same moment, the bell rang and students were standing up, quick and eager to get away.

"Okay, might be a pop quiz tomorrow, might not! Sleep in fear tonight."

I stood up and dumped my stuff in my black backpack, fixing my equally black jacket and grey shirt. I was all for dark colors this week. My faded jeans didn't match my style though. Damn. I eyed my black converse; maybe I should get new shoes too.

I hefted my bag on one shoulder walked out, calling out to Sam, "Sam! I'm going on ahead." He gave an almost dismissive wave of his hand before walking to the teacher's desk. I only raised a brow at his near-rude attitude before running out to Dad's car.

I gave an absent-minded 'hey dad' as I jumped over the door (roofless cars are so awesome, one of the few awesome things about Ron), landing on the front seat.

"Hey." he greeted back. "Your guitar's at the back. How's school?"

I shrugged and changed places so I could sit at the back with my beloved guitar, dumping my bag at my side. "Same old, same old. Boring, teachers with droning voices, pop quizzes tomorrow." I opened my guitar case and ran my hands over the design at the edge. "Why do they even hire teachers like that?" I asked rhetorically, storing my guitar back in its case. I made plans to have some of the chips fixed up, some jocks had messed with it a while back and they got a punch to the face, courtesy of moi.

"Eh, teaching's a boring job, they get like that a lot. The teachers, I mean." Ron replied, looking back at the front, obviously bored.

I only hummed in reply before digging out my white headphones (gift from Miles, who'd have thought he got a great taste for gadgets? Though I suppose that was pretty obvious since he was a gamer) from my bag, putting it around my neck for the meantime.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Ron and I looked up at Sam who looked deliriously happy waving his paper a lot. He immediately sat in the car, still waving around that paper of his. "A-. It's an A though."

"Wait wait wait, I can't see." Sam just about thrust the paper in dad's face. "It's an A."

"So I'm good?"

"Yeah, you're good."

And so began more Sam-cheers which consisted of plenty of 'yes, yes, yes!' and just plain happiness and joy spreading around the car and annoying me and dad greatly.

I rolled my eyes as Dad started up the car. It wasn't long before Dad drove up near the Porsche cars stuff. Forgot what they called these things. Dealerships?

"I got a little surprise for you son."

"What—what kind of...?" Sam was looking at the Porsche dealership with dawning realization.

"Yeah, a little surprise."

"No...no, no, no, no Dad!" I swear you can _feel_ the joy and happiness and rainbows and shizz in Sammy-boy's voice. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me!"

"Yeah. I am." the smug, near-sadistic satisfaction was palpable in Dad's voice. "You're not getting a Porsche."

At that, Sam's face fell and his happiness disappeared as fast as it appeared. Dad's light chuckles prompted my quiet giggles at the back.

"Dad's pretty cheap Sam. You should know that by now." I chirped in the back.

"You think that's funny?" Dad continued to drive, and the Porsche dealership disappeared from view fast.

"Yeah, I think it's funny."

"What's wrong with you?"

"What? You'd think I'd really get you a Porsche? For your first car?" We were now entering Bobby Bolivia's. I glanced back and saw Bumblebee following us, disappearing around the back as Dad parked the car.

"I don't want to talk to you for the rest of this whole thing." Dad laughed again at Sam's words.

"Oh come on, it's just a practical joke."

"It's not a funny joke." Aaaaaaand now, Sam's sulking.

We all left the car and I brought my guitar case with me, leaving my jacket back at the car. It was way too hot for it. I followed the father-son pair into the dealership quietly, trying to glimpse Bumblebee in the place.

"Here? No, no, no what is this? You said—you said half a car, not half a piece of crap Dad."

"When I was your age, I was happy with four wheels and an engine."

"Okay, okay, let me explain something to you, okay?" The two stopped at one place as Sam started. "You ever see the 40 year old virgin?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, that's what this is." Sam pointed to the car right beside us and then pointed to the one at the other side. "And this is the 50 year old virgin."

"Okay..."

"You want me to live that life? Hm?" Sam almost sounded scolding. Maybe he's just desperate.

Dad just rolled his eyes. "No sacrifice, no victory."

"Yeah, yeah, no victory. You know, I got it. The old Witwicky motto. Right."

I chipped in. "Think of it this way, Sam," Both men turned their attention to me. "This is just a test run, just so you can get used to it. Until you're any better and manage to get some money, you can start saving up and buy a new one, or upgrade what you're gonna have if it's any good."

Sam seemed to seriously contemplate on this.

"Listen to your sister Sam, she's got a good brain on her shoulders."

Both Sam and I deadpanned at him. We both knew how wrong that was since I was just plain crazy at times.

"Gentlemen!" The three of us turned as Bobby Bolivia greeted us.

"I'll just go ahead and check out potential cars." I said to my brother and Dad and both seemed to agree so I went on ahead on my own.

I pretended not to notice as Bumblebee drove up the empty parking space while I was eyeing the ostrich weirdly. Why _did_ Bolivia have an ostrich here?

"Hey Mammy!" I glanced back at Bobby B and Sam. "Aw, don't be like that, if I had a rock, I'd bust your head, bitch! I tell you man, she deaf, you know?" It was followed by Bolivia's stranger-than-that-ostrich laugh.

I walked on and looked around, pretending to notice Bumblebee for the first time. I walked over and ran my hand on his hood, appreciating the warm smoothness.

I called Sam over. "Hey Sam!" Both him and Dad looked back at me. "Check this one out."

The group walked over and I ducked in to check out the interior, leaving my guitar case at the back of the Camaro. The little disco ball hanging at the rear view mirror reflected light at my eyes and cursed it faintly, failing to hide a smile at the bee-yotch air freshener hanging with the ball.

"This ain't bad." I heard Sam say from outside. "This one's got racing stripes."

"Obviously." I called out from the passenger seat where I was checking stuff out.

"Yeah, it got racing...Yeah, what's this? What the heck is this?"

Sam opened the door and sat in the driver's seat. "Feels pretty good." he murmured.

"It does, doesn't it?" I murmured in reply and leaned over to his side, watching as he wiped the dust from the insignia at the wheel. "What's that?" I pointed out to him and he shrugged. "I have no idea." he said.

We both ignored Bobby B as started calling for 'Manny', whoever that was.

"How much?" Dad asked when he saw how much we both liked it.

"Well," Bobby B started, "considering the semi-classic nature of the vehicle, with the slick wheels and custom paint job—"

"Yeah, but the paint's faded." Sam butted in and Bobby ducked down to face both of us.

"Well, yeah, but it's custom."

"So it's custom faded?" I asked, raising a single eyebrow. Suddenly, I felt fulfilled, having said one of my favorite lines in the movie.

"Well this is your first car, I wouldn't expect you to understand." He stood back up again. "Five grand." he announced.

"No, I'm not paying over four, sorry."

Bobby was quick to duck back down and shoo us out. "Kids, come on, get out. Get out of the car."

Of course, Sam was also quick to defend his beliefs (starting to sound a bit weird there). "No, no, no, you said cars pick their drivers."

"Well, sometimes they pick a driver with a cheap-ass father. Out the car."

I shot him a dirty look when he wasn't facing us and Sam and I stared longingly at Bumblebee. I went out soon enough, grabbing my guitar case with me, walking around the front to stay beside Sam, who was much slower in leaving Bumblebee.

Dad pointed out the Fiesta with racing stripes and Sam sulkily replied, "No, I don't want a Fiesta with racing stripes." _I want this one,_ went unsaid. Beside Sam, I solemnly nodded in agreement, even though I knew we were getting this one car right here soon.

Meanwhile, Bolivia continued on prattling about the other car. "This one's a classic engine, right here. I sold the car the other day—"

At the exact same moment, Sam closed the car door and the one at the other side popped right back out. I covered my mouth to try—and fail—to muffle my giggles at his misfortune.

"That was awesome." Sam whispered to me as Dad went to check on Bobby B.

"I know right?" I whispered back and we shared a few minutes of mirth.

"_...greater than man..._" I suddenly heard the radio and I braced myself as Bobby B walked out from the dented car and started prattling again.

I was quick to duck down and cover my ears as a deafening tune started up and glass shattered everywhere.

It ended in a few moments and I watched Bobby B stand up, staring, horrified, at all of his ruined merchandise. He turned back to us, four fingers raised. "Four thousand." he said, voice cracking as he did.

I couldn't help it, I giggled again at the look on his face.

Sam's happiness was palpable within a meter from him. I smiled for the first time this day.

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**Longest chapter yet, and it's gonna get longer. Reviews, anyone?**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! I'm working on the chapters little by little so updates will be sporadic (which it really is), I try my best to post it up by weekends since I chip in every few words when I arrive back from school.**

**I have a guest review I couldn't reply to via PM so I guess I'll mention it here:**

**Dramagirl209(did I get that right?), I'm planning to have her join in all three movies, maybe the fourth if I manage to find and dig out a plot bunny along with the complementary 'carrot ideas' since the fourth one is gonna be a whole new story all together. They've all moved on from Sam and Carly by that time, right?**

**By the way, I'm already working on the next chapter so it's possible that I'll manage to put up another update by Sunday.**

**Thanks for the reviews, they keep me going! :D**

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_**Disclaimer:**__I still don't own Transformers, only my OC._

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**Chapter 4**

...

Cars are wonderful things, because you see, they're metal, have four wheels, a powerful engine (depending on what car it is), and they were absolutely wonderful man-made inventions. They have many uses but their main purpose is transportation, and they have become an important part of our world.

In Sam's case though, his car, the yet-unknown Bumblebee, was only as important as _half_ a piece of crap. Which it isn't. I kept on telling him the next day after we, uhm, 'bought' Bumblebee (you can't buy a sentient being, I'd get crap thrown at me if I ever said that around the Autobots) to at _least_ clean his car. He just waved me off and said that he would do it 'later'. I never knew that laters equaled to half a day.

One day, I thought, one day I'll strangle Sam for all the embarrassment he's putting me through. And I'll avenge Bumblebee for Sam's uncaring nature. One day...

That one day, however, would have to wait.

I was lazing at our bunk bed, cushioned by my and Sam's pillows with my feet up at the end of the bed. I was absently playing a few notes with my guitar while trying to figure out at what part of the movie we were.

I had never realized that Sam went to the lake party a day after he bought Bumblebee, so I was a bit thrown off when I had asked him when he was going to go only to find out that he was going at the next day in the afternoon, after school. It was Thursday when we bought the car, Friday going out to the lake party (today, he'll be going later after a few minutes, I would guess) and I assumed afterwards that most of the major movie events happened starting at the weekends. Thank god for small miracles. I suppose it wasn't really that big of a deal anyway, movies always skip the sometimes-short-sometimes-long fillers in between each events.

Anyways, I remember that right before the lake party, there was a shot at the weird office-auditorium place with the Secretary of Defense and Maggie Madsen. That was the first time it was shot there, and it was the time when Keller first announced the attack at the SOCCENT base in Qatar. They had recruited plenty of people for the signal analysis thingy about Frenzy's hacking thing so I'm guessing that somewhere in the United States, Maggie and a handful of others are looking to figure out (and failing at it) what kind of signal it was.

"Alright Mojo. I got the car, now I need the girl." Sam's voice cut me off from my musings as I looked at Sam who was just entering our room and navigating through the mess he made on the floor. Speaking of Mojo, I already forgot what happened (and I don't really care) but the little dog had a cast on one leg and was haphazardly laying on Sam's clothes dumped at the chair near his desk.

Sam gave me a 'hey' as he passed by and checked the (im)possible buyers of great-great granddad's stuff. "I need money to take out the girl is what I need."

I sat up and set my guitar on its stand near the head of the bunk beds, throwing my feet over the edge and looking around for my orange and black flats which had somehow disappeared among the great mess on the floor. "That's assuming that you did manage to get a girl." I grumbled, annoyed at the state of my hair which all over the place.

"Oh I will. Now that I got a car, I'd have more of a chance to get Mikaela to notice me."

I didn't say anything to that. I knew that he didn't get her 'cause of the car, but they still got together at the end.

"Zero bids." I heard him mutter. He sighed, "Great. I'm broke."

"I'm not." I chipped in cheekily. He turned and glared at me and I raised a brow at him. "Sulking won't make you some money Sam. Better work for it."

He just stood up and walked over to the bathroom. "Come on Mojo. You want your pain pills?" Mojo yipped and jumped off the chair, following Sam like a baby duckling follows its mom.

I _finally _found my shoes and wore the pair, walking over to my closet and searching for party clothes. "It's gonna start soon now." I muttered to myself as I slid out of my jeans. "Soon."

I knew Sam would take a while in the bathroom so I changed out in the middle of our room. I didn't take long, wearing jean short shorts and a simple red shirt. It was something I wore more at home than to parties, but really, I could care less since I'm at least wearing something compared to the other slutty clothes I've seen at school. I put on a black vest just for the heck of it and tied my hair up in a high ponytail. I didn't put on make-up but I did put powder and lip gloss.

"It's like clockwork." I heard Sam and looked to see him sitting on the chair with Mojo seated on the table. "All right, I know you get wasted on these things but if you piss on my bed again, you're sleeping outside. Okay?" he told Mojo, feeding the Chihuahua a pain pill. "That's it for today. No more, crackhead." I quirked a smile at the 'crackhead' who just licked his nose and followed Sam to the bathroom where Mojo's pills were placed.

I brought my headphones and grabbed my phone, then proceeded on outside to wait for Sam, making sure I was on the path.

"Hey mom, dad." I greeted the pair who was gardening, as usual.

"Hey sweetie." Mom greeted back with a smile on her face. "Going to that party right?"

"Yeah." I took out my phone and checked the time. "Sam's still having last minute preparations."

"Just be back by 11." grunted Dad. I nodded in affirmative and the two went back to whatever they were doing. I tapped my foot on the path, waiting impatiently for Sam.

"Ron, this one is uneven." Mom said, stepping on a stone tile.

"Yeah. Probably."

Judy moved on to the next one. "This one is wobbly."

"Yeah, I'll take care of that real soon."

Mom's exasperation was palpable in her next words. "Couldn't we have hired a professional?"

Sam went out afterwards, shaking his keys in audible glee as he stepped on to the grass. Ron looked up at the moment Sam stepped foot on his grass. "Sam…"

"What?"

"I do not like footprints on my grass."

Sam was obviously confused and disbelieving. as he looked back at where he walked. "What foot—there's no footprints!"

"There's a reason why I built my path." Dad ignored Sam's statement. "So why don't you go from my grass to my path, okay?" Meanwhile, Judy was still stepping around the stones, checking stuff out.

"It's family grass dad!" Either way, Sam still moved on to the path.

"Well when you own your own grass, you'll understand." And Ron went back to fixing the soil around stone tiles near the fountain.

"This, I can't do it anymore." Sam complained as he moved to Judy, having caught sight of Mojo's 'bling'.

"What?" Judy asked, confused, as she looked at Sam.

"You're putting girl jewelry on a boy dog." Sam said, pointing to Mojo who was in his doghouse and Judy smiled, amused. "He's got enough self-esteem as a Chihuahua, mom."

"That's his bling." Mom said, and I giggled at her tone and Sam's expression which practically screamed 'why are my parents like this?!'.

I followed Sam into Bumblebee and heard Mom calling to Sam, "I want you home by 11 o'clock!" I made myself comfy on the passenger seat, not bothering with the seat belt since I knew I was pretty safe in Bumblebee's interior.

"Yeah." Sam called back, already starting the car.

"11 o'clock!" Ron repeated. "And please, for the love of god, drive safely!" Judy added in. "Seat belt on." Ron added.

Sam started the car and we were off, leaving behind a cloud of black smoke.

I looked back at the smoke and eyed Sam. "I told you you should've cleaned Bumblebee."

I realized my mistake a bit too late as Sam raised a brow at me. "Bumblebee?"

"Err... I just named hi—it. Yeah, I just named it Bumblebee cuz he kinda looks like one. You know, black and yellow?" I coolly (not) covered up.

"Riiiiiight..." Sam's eyes went back on the road. "I'm picking up Miles by the way. He's coming with."

This time, I raised the eyebrow at him, acting like I didn't know that he was coming. "Miles? Do you know how many times he's complimented my legs? It's like he has a leg fetish."

Sam grinned. "Maybe you shouldn't have worn shorts then. A bit late now though, look, he's already waiting there."

I looked and sure enough, there was Miles, waiting at the sidewalk. I groaned and Sam laughed at my misfortune.

Miles whistled when he caught sight of the car—and me—when Sam pulled up near him. "Hel-lo cutie pie." he winked at me as he checked me out and I made a face at him. "Ew no." I stuck my tongue out at him. Childish, and not so effective as he laughed and opened the car door.

"Cool ride." he nodded approvingly at Sam once he got into the back seat.

"I know right?" Sam's grin grew and I can feel his happiness once again.

I looked back at Miles at the back and told him, "Keep complimenting him. Remember, it only does good things to his ego."

"Oh shut up." Sam rolled his eyes, but the grin was still in place.

"I think I'd rather stoke _your_ ego, pretty lady." Miles waggled his eyebrows suggestively and I laughed at the ridiculousness of it.

"No thanks." I chirped, "My legs won't be able to take it anymore."

This time it was Sam who laughed as Miles made a face at me. Our banter dissolved into idle chatting and it wasn't long before the lake came into view.

"Dude, are you sure we're invited to this party?" Miles asked Sam.

"I am." I said to both of them, raising a hand.

"Yeah, and besides, Miles, this is a lake. Public property." Sam added, parking Bumblebee near a tree, _the_ tree which Miles climbs.

"Oh my god. Oh my god, dude, Mikaela's here. Just don't do anything weird, all right?" Sam said, eyes wide, obviously nervous, and I deadpanned at him. "Don't look at me Sam, look at Miles, he does all the weird stuff."

We exited the car and I just hung back, sitting on Bumblebee's hood. "You guys go on ahead, I'll be here."

Miles looked back at me longingly but he followed Sam.

"I'm good right?" Sam asked Miles who patted his back and muttered, "Yeah, you're good."

The pair walked on forwards and I leaned back on the glass, phone in hand.

"Hey bro!" I heard Trent call. "That car. It's nice. Hey."

Miles left his jacket on the grass and I ignored Mikaela who was looking over Trent's shoulder. Sam looked back at me briefly as Miles began climbing up the tree while Trent rounded up on Sam.

"So what are you guys doing here?" he asked Sam, looking (appropriately) like a jock.

"We're here to climb this tree." Sam replied, nervousness hidden.

"I see that. It looks...looks fun." Trent remarked as the two glanced at each other and at Miles who was already up at the tree.

"Yeah..."

"You know, I thought I recognized you." Trent smirked. "You tried out for the football team last year, right?"

"Oh no, no, that—no. That wasn't like a real tryout. I was researching a book I was writing."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." Sam nodded.

"Yeah? What's it about? Sucking at sports?"

Sam gave a small laugh. "No, no. It's about the link between brain damage and football." Trent's smirk dropped. "No, it's a good book. Your friends'll love it. You know, it's got mazes in it, and, you know, little coloring areas, sections, pop-up pictures, it's a load of fun." This time, it was Sam who had the smirk.

"That's funny." Trent said, approaching Sam.

"Okay, okay, you know what, stop." Mikaela said as she put herself between the two.

Trent looked at her and shook his head, leaving Sam and Miles alone. I sighed to myself and went back in the car, choosing to stay at the back seat. I lay down on the seats and wore my headphones, the song 'Counting Stars' by One Republic starting to play.

I closed my eyes, planning to doze off for a while. Stuff's gonna get boring soon, and I didn't particularly wanna watch my brother fumble about Mikaela.

I managed to doze off in a few minutes.

* * *

I was shaken awake by Sam the moment Mikaela was gone.

"Hey Carol. Carooool. Carol Carol Carol, hey Carol."

"What." I grumbled, pulling my headphones down and rubbing my eyes. I yawned as Sam spoke. "Come on, we're home already."

"Mikaela's gone?" I mumbled...burrowing further into the seats.

"Yeah, yeah, she's gone. Come on, we're already home."

"Noooooo..." I moaned as I tried to escape the evil hand that was shaking my shoulder.

"Carol..." I heard Sam sigh and later felt myself be lifted up and out into the cold.

I cuddled in with Sam and let out a sigh of contentment. Sam may not look it but he was actually pretty strong, he could win against Trent in a fight if he wanted to. The problem was he just had zero pain tolerance.

I fell asleep again in Sam's arms and never bothered to wake up again that night when Sam began shouting about someone stealing his car.

I mean, no one can steal an Autobot right...?...

...Right...

* * *

**Seemed like an awkward end to a chapter but meh. What do you guys think about Mikaela and Carly?**

**Reviews make my day!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Here's the next chapter! Thanks to all the reviews and new followers! This chapter's the longest one yet, nearly 7000 words.**

**Do you guys wanna keep Mikaela until DoTM or do you guys want them to break up and have Sam move on to Carly?**

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **I still don't own it~_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

...

It was early next morning when I was woken up by mom who was all nerves and panic attacks. She really thought that something bad had happened to Sam and was pressing me and dad to hurry. Of course, the police never bothered to tell her that it was suspected that Sam had been doing drugs. I never managed to change clothes so I just threw on a jacket to ward off the morning chill and wore my orange slippers.

Judy just about had a conniption when I was still shuffling about the kitchen, looking for breakfast. Mom didn't want to go with us though, there was some important package or whatever it is that she had to wait for so it was only me and Dad who was going.

We speed-walked (well, Dad did, I just shuffled along) to the station doors the moment Dad pulled up the curb and put the car on park.

Dad had a (sort of) civil conversation with the chief right before the jerk of a police officer 'interviewed' Sam. I stood somewhat behind-beside Dad as he started the questioning.

"Look," Sam started, "I can't be any clearer than how crystal clear I'm being."

Meanwhile, I was glaring at the back of the heads of the two police officers who were...'interviewing' Sam.

"It just stood up." Sam said slowly, putting emphasis on the 'stood up' part. I wondered if Sam knew how crazy he sounded right now. I mean, if it were me, even I wouldn't believe what I was saying.

"It just stood up." Mr. Police Jerk repeated flatly. His partner who was seated on the Chief's table shook his head.

"Wow. That's really neat." Mr. PJ continued. "Okay chiefie. Time to fill her up. No drippy-drippy." And he handed Sam a little bottle and some tissue and Sam stared at him incredulously even as he took it hesitantly. "What are you rolling? Whippets? Goofballs? A little wowie sauce with the boys?"

"No, I'm not on any drugs." Sam said immediately.

"What's these then?" Mr. PJ asked as he caught the bottle of Mojo's pain pills that his partner threw. "Found it in your pocket. 'Mojo'. Is that what the kids are doing now? A little bit of mojo?"

I chose that time to intervene. "That's our dog's pain pills." I bit out, a bit of anger leaking into my voice. I really wanted to dropkick that guy. In the crotch, specifically.

"You know, a Chihuahua, a little..." Dad added, making hand motions to show just how small Mojo was.

Mr. PJ sort of facepalmed then suddenly he smirked a little at Sam, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "What was that?"

Sam sort of jolted up a bit and looked back up at him. "Hm?"

"You eyeballing my piece, 50 cent?" he smirked fully, showing off his gun hidden in his jacket. Mr. PJ stood up and loomed over the seated Sam. "You wanna go? Make something happen. Do it. 'Cause I promise you. I will bust you up."

I breathed out harshly and continued to glare at the back of Mr. PJ's head. I didn't even notice that I had a heavy scowl on my face.

"Are you on drugs?" I barely heard Sam's whispered question, but when I did, I had to hide a small smirk. Snarky Sam ftw!

* * *

"_It was an amazing spectacle here an hour ago when over 40 C-17's lifted off of this very base. We were not told where they were going_—"

I put down the remote and stretched my arms, fixing my new and clean jean shorts with little tufts of fur at the hem and straightening out my grey tank top. It was one of my favorites to wear during summer cuz I sweat like a pig and it was decent enough to cool me and not look slutty at the same time.

We had returned back home with Sam and Judy had poked and prodded at him, checking to make sure if he was fine or not. I couldn't go back to sleep when we returned and I was the first to take a bath even though it was still very early in the morning. Sam had only showered before returning back to sleep and he was still sleeping until now.

I knew what was going to happen later and I honestly don't know what to feel about it. On one hand, it would be awesome, meeting my idols but then I knew that it wasn't only my idols who were here (I'm talking about the Decepticons). I stared at my hands and wondered if all the things I've trained for were enough to help. I took some self defense classes for the confrontation with Simmons, and I even took archery and became one of the best in our class. I saved up some money and bought my own bow and arrows but I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to bring it with me. I didn't even know how it would help.

In the end I had no idea what to do.

I scanned the fridge and saw our shortage of ice cream and milk (it was a major part of my unhealthy diet) and I decided to go buy some more to take my mind off the dark thoughts.

I popped my head out the window and saw my parents gardening again. I wondered if they ever get tired of it.

"Mom! Dad!" I called out, "I'm going out to buy some food!"

"Buy some wine too!" Dad called out from somewhere behind a bush. "You know which one!"

"Okay!" I went back inside and ran upstairs, tip toeing around my and Sam's room. I made sure to be extra quiet since I knew Sam would need all the sleep he can get with stuff starting to escalate.

I grabbed my shoulder bag and purse, putting my headphones around my neck.

"I'm going out!" I called out and waited for mom's usual call of 'Stay safe!' before starting to walk.

I didn't take long and there wasn't much people so I made it quick, throwing in some snack and energy drinks in the basket.

"Do you take cards?" I asked the black-haired cutie (I'm still a girl no matter how mature I act) cashier who was scanning the third bottle of Gatorade I put in.

"Sorry, not now. We have a bit of a problem, probably until tomorrow afternoon." he looked apologetic and I waved it off.

"It's fine." I told him. "I think I still have some change here." I patted my pocket and gave him a half-smile. He returned it with a smile of his own.

"So..." he started, "You single?"

My eyebrows flew up halfway to my hairline. Oh dear. "I am."

His smile grew. "Is it possible for this lowly cashier to get a date with the beautiful goddess in front of me?"

Oh, blunt one is he? I wondered if it really wasn't obvious that I was only twelve. I mean, I get that I grew a lot that I could pass as a 18-year old and that I have a mentality of a 20-year old but still, this is ridiculous. I think growing up fast was a side effect of reincarnating.

"Sorry." I smiled sweetly, too sweetly I would guess. "I don't swing that way."

I had to bite back a giggle when he gaped. His friend who was packing up my stuff in my bag snickered behind his hand. I handed the cashier the exact amount and tapped his mouth close. "Try not to let the flies in." I winked at him and grabbed my bag, saluting him as I walked away.

"That was a pretty good try dude." I heard the one who was packing stuff up tell the cashier. I knew the female guard heard our conversation and we shared amused smiles as I walked out.

I took my time walking and kept looking around boredly, looking for stuff to interest me. I looked back when I heard a crash and saw some kid sprawled over a girl, their bikes tangled in a nearby bush.

I almost didn't notice it but I nearly bumped into a police car when I looked back forwards and turned the corner. A black and white Ford Saleen Mustang that was very shiny, it looked new, was parked right at the corner.

"Huh. Pretty cool." I muttered to myself as I ran a hand over its roof. I glanced back at it and resumed on my way, that was, until I remembered that Barricade was also a Mustang. I continued walking but I glanced back at it again discretely and my sight immediately zoned in on the words 'to punish and enslave' at the side.

My eye widened and I felt my heart start to speed up. I walked faster now, looking back every once in a while, trying to hide how nervous I was. I bit my bottom lip and started jogging when I noticed him getting closer. I was sure the panic was starting to show on my face because _Barricade was f*cking following me_. WHAT THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?!

For some reason, the only coherent thought I had left was that I _touched Barricade_.

I walked with some other teenagers who were laughing and talking animatedly with each other, slipping in between them and I started running when the light turned red at the crossing. I heard a couple of yells and glanced back once I reached the other side, and I honestly didn't expect what I saw.

I saw Bumblebee, driving forwards until he barred Barricade. The teens I left behind exclaimed angrily when Bumblebee also blocked the crossing.

I kept running though, the adrenaline forcing me to keep going until I reached home.

I collapsed on the couch once I reached my house, panting heavily. I wiped my forehead beaded with sweat and I stayed seated there until it finally sunk in that I managed to escape from Barricade with Bumblebee's help.

I laughed breathlessly as I sunk into the pillows.

How on earth would I survive in Mission City if this is all it takes to take a lot out of me?

* * *

**|| At the alley... ||**

"Please tell me you have those glasses."

Sam tore his eyes away from the robots—Autobots, right?—to see Mikaela beside him. Normally he'd be jumping in joy that he even managed to get this close to her, but that isn't important right now.

Sam blinked multiple times as he processed the question. "I—I do. It's back at the house. It's in my bag, but I think Carol fixed my stuff. She's always been like that, obsessed about cleanliness and, and stuff."

Sam wondered how Carol would react if she knew he had been with alien robots as tall as their house.

Bumblebee, his guardian, suddenly gave out a strange whirring and clicking sound (and it's still just starting to sink in that _he just bought an alien robot._ Sam would have laughed at the irony when he remembered what Carol named his car, it was a curious coincidence).

"_Yo dude...I almost forgot...The enemy has captured...save the princess!...This morning we'll be..._" came out from Bumblebee's speakers.

Sam was appropriately confused at the movie lines his car was spouting. "Princess?"

"_Christmas carols on..._"_  
_

"Carols...Carol? What about Carol? Is she in danger?" Sam immediately asked. Maybe his sister already knew Bumblebee?

"_...Barricade the doors!...car chases...this morning?..._"

Sam's brow furrowed. "Barricade chased Carol this morning?" he asked uncertainly. Bumblebee made more whirring sounds and nodded, pointing at him.

"Bumblebee has sent me a report concerning her. She managed to get away with his help." Optimus said. "She does not know about us though." he added.

"She was back at home when I left. What if—what if they get attacked by Barricade again?" Sam asked worriedly. If anything happened to his sister...

Bumblebee shook his head and made an X with his arms. "_...Safe and sound..._" Sam sighed in relief.

"It's best we go now." Optimus pushed gently. "We must have those glasses."

"Okay, okay." Sam nodded, almost beginning to spazz out at the thought of his sister getting hurt.

"Autobots, roll out!"

* * *

**|| Back with Carol... ||**

Mom, Dad and I had just finished dinner and I was with them watching TV. I was sort of calm and panicky at the same time. I knew that tonight was the night that the Autobots were destroying our garden, for lack of better words.

I had fallen asleep a few minutes after I collapsed on the couch and had woken up by lunch time. Sam wasn't at home anymore so I guessed that the Barricade confrontation was happening. I silently wished him good luck. I changed clothes once I managed to calm down since my previous ones were drenched in sweat. I had taken another shower to soothe my muscles and it took all I had not to have a panic attack. I knew they were there, but I guess it never really sunk in that they were _there_. I tried to keep my mind blank as I changed into roll-up shorts and an orange t-shirt. I also threw on my red jacket since I had felt pretty cold.

I was curled up on the couch, wearing my headphones but I kept it off since I was waiting for Sam. I left my hair down and I was staring at my phone blankly.

The numbers 10:45 blinked on my abstract screen saver. I realized that Sam was past curfew and that he could arrive any time now.

Dad stood up the moment the three of us heard a car engine just outside the house. I wore my black flats and followed Dad to the door, pulling my headphones down so I could hear clearly.

"Thanks for staying on my path." said Dad, the sarcasm evident on his tone.

Sam ran to the screen door, blocking the view of the Autobots who I knew were there. I pushed myself onto Dad's side so I could also see Sam.

"Oh yeah. No, no Dad! Hey." Sam pushed the screen in Dad's face. "The—Oh, the path. I'm sorry, I forgot about the path. I'm gonna sweep the whole thing right now, how about that?" I giggled quietly at Dad's expression.

"You—you know, I buy half your car..."

"Yeah."

"...then I bail you out of jail and then you have your sister do all your chores."

"The chores." Sam nodded, eyes wide.

"Yeah, life is great huh?" Dad asked sarcastically.

"Life...life is fantastic, is how good it is." Sam said, nervousness seeping into his tone when he looked back. I knew he saw Optimus standing up. "It's so...Oh! The trash cans. Sorry, Dad, I'm gonna do the trash cans now."

"No, no. I don't want you to strain yourself. Better yet, have your sister take care of it." Dad said, putting his arm around my shoulders and pushing the door open. Sam had other ideas though and pushed it close in Dad's (and mine's) face again. I bit my lip to keep from laughing on Dad's expression.

"No, no I won't strain myself Dad." Sam said, still pushing on the door.

"I'll do it." Dad said, pushing back on the door.

"It would hurt my feelings if you or Carol do it." Sam pushed back again.

"It already hurt my feelings when you left me to do it." I chipped in, mock-glaring at Sam through the screen and he grimaced at me.

Dad raised a brow at this. "You sure? I don't mind, I really don't..."

"I promise..." Sam started but then he cut himself off as he pushed the screen back at me and Dad. Okay, this pushing screens thing is getting ridiculous. "No, no, no, I'm gonna do it." Sam said, an air of finality about his words. "I'm gonna do the trash cans and I'm gonna scrape the grill and I'm gonna..." then he paused to take a look back out the garden, "I'm gonna sweep up the whole house right now."

I heard rustling of leaves and tried to peek over Sam's shoulder through the screen. Sam saw what I was doing and blocked accordingly. "Sam, what was that?" I asked him, faking a curious tone. "I heard rustling."

Sam grimaced some more and said, "It's—it's probably just a raccoon. Don't mind it."

"You're doing it tonight? Right now?" Dad asked incredulously.

"Right now." Sam confirmed, nodding whilst leaning on the door frame. Then he glanced to his right and his eyes widened. He quickly leaned his shoulder on the door frame and tried adopting a serious expression. I could see through it though.

"Um, Dad, uhh—I—I love you. God, I love you just so much right now." My eyebrows were up past my hairline right now and I decided to escape to the couch where I collapsed and cackled to the pillows. Judy ignored me as she watched the news.

"Sleep good handsome man!" I heard Sam call out from out the door right before Dad arrived back on the couch where he resumed drinking his wine. I grinned at the odd expression on Dad's face and decided to go do the meet-and-greet with my brother's alien friends.

I sneaked back out the doorway and saw Sam freaking out, well, spazzing out seems more appropriate.

"No watch the path! Watch the path! Watch the—please, please, please. No, no, wait! No no no! Oh no!"

I heard something crumble and covered my mouth to prevent the giggles from escaping when I heard the "Oops. Sorry, my bad."

"No...I, you—you couldn't wait for five minutes? You couldn't wait for _five minutes?! _I told you to just stay! _Just stay!_" I'm feeling bad for Sam right now, so I decided to make it quick and silently opened the screen door and walked out, sticking close to the walls. Mojo apparently followed me out and I watched silently at the next scenes and Ironhide's famous, "You have a rodent infestation. Shall I terminate?" line.

While Sam spazzed out during Mojo's manhandling, I stared at the five giant robots loitering about Mom and Dad's beloved garden. I never, ever thought I'd be meeting them real time. I had lived in a world where I idolized animated beings that I knew I would never meet. In a way, I had resigned myself to knowing that that particular dream would never be fulfilled, but here I am, staring at them. Out of so many fans like me, and I was chosen. And here, all that was left was to make myself known.

I took a deep breath and hugged my jacket to myself, preparing my scared expression. "Sam?"

That one word brought all of their attention on me. I had my eyes dart between all of them, slowly backing away. It was a good thing I practiced drama, or else I wouldn't be able to pull this off. "Mikaela?"

Mikaela made a small smile and slightly waved at me as she said, "Hey Carol, what's up?"

"What's up you say? I say that's what's up! Sam, what's going on?"

Sam immediately put down Mojo (who ran back inside, tail between his legs) and approached me quickly. "Hey! Carol! Carol, Carol, Carol. Umm, how you doing?"

"How am I doing?!" I exclaimed at him and stared back at the five Autobots in front of me. "I feel really small right now." I whispered to him as he put his right arm around my shoulders.

"Umm, guys, this is, uh, Carol, my sister. Carol these are the Autobots." The five shuffled and glanced at each other.

I continued to stare at them, eyes wide. "Listen, Carol, whatever you do, don't freak out, okay? Don't freak out. They're safe." Sam continued to ramble. "They won't hurt us and um, they—they only need grandpa's glasses."

Bumblebee slowly knelt down in front of us and tilted his head at me. A strange whirring sound came from him.

"And ermm, this is Bumblebee. My guardian, or, well, _our_ guardian. Remember that car we bought, well this is him." Sam continued on, letting go of me and standing beside the kneeling Bumblebee. "He's friendly, okay? Don't worry, the Autobots don't hurt humans."

"Our car?" I asked in fake wonder, slowly approaching them. "I...there was a creepy police car. 'To punish and enslave' was written on its side. I thought it was following me." I slowly held out a hand to Bumblebee's face, who's audios were perked up high. "Bumblebee saved me, I think. He prevented the police car from coming close." My hand rested on Bumblebee's cheek and I let out a breath that I was holding. It was surprisingly warm, the metal, I mean. Bumblebee made another whirring, clicking sound. "That _was_ you, wasn't it?" I asked him and he whirred again. "Thank you." I told him and I backed off quickly, hands shaking. Bumblebee straightened, making more whirring sounds.

...I can't believe that I actually touched his face!

I TOUCHED BUMBLEBEE'S FACE!

My fangirl side died inside me.

I ignored the temporary death of Nicky Harrison (my previous name, and the name of my fangirl side, am I weird for naming it?) and turned to Sam. "You said something about grandpa's glasses?"

And then Sam, Mikaela and the rest of the Autobots proceeded to give me a run down of the information they shared to Sam and Mikaela.

"So you need the glasses?" I asked and they gave a chorus of 'yes' and 'yeah's. "I think I know where it is. Come on." I gestured them over, trying to ignore my clammy feeling of my hands. I was still nervous, I can't help it.

Sam told the Autobots to 'stay put' again and had Mikaela guard them.

We passed by mom and dad who were busy talking about the latest news and me and Sam quickly ran back up to our room. The moment we stepped in, I closed the door and faced Sam, letting out the squeal that I was holding in. Sam started freaking out even as I stopped and grinned a near-maniacal fangirl grin.

"Look," I started, making sure to keep my voice as calm and quiet as I can manage in all my excitement. "The glasses were in the bag you brought during the genealogy report—"

"Yeah, okay—"

"I put the bag in our room cuz I remember you left it in the kitchen—"

"Right, right—"

"—and I remember leaving it in your side of the room."

"Okay, okay."

"I want you to go look for it right now while I open the window, okay?" Sam nodded vigorously and immediately started tossing up stuff. "And Sam?"

"Yeah?" he grunted, heaving a box away from...somewhere.

"Just calm down." I told him. "Tone down your panic." If I had no idea what was happening, I'd say that Sam was about to lose it, break down and start crying. He was so ridiculously spazzy it was almost pitying.

It was a panicky three minutes later when Sam finally gave a victorious 'Aha!' and held up grandpa's glasses in one hand. Of course, it just had to be the perfect time to hear sirens in the distance.

There was no doubt about it; Simmons was coming.

"Sam!" I hissed and Sam turned to me in surprise as I ran to the window, dragging him along and whisper-shouting to Optimus who was the nearest to us, "Optimus!"

Optimus ducked a bit to the window. "What is it?"

"Sam found the glasses, take him, and go! Go!" I nearly shouted and pushed Sam off the window and he would've have fallen if Optimus wouldn't have stuck out a hand.

"Wha—why?!" The sirens were getting closer now and I panicked out right.

"JUST GO!" I shouted at them. "There are sirens in the distance! Go! GO!"

Optimus must've seen something in my eyes or...something, because he complied and stood straight back up, saying, "Autobots, roll out!"

I panted harshly as I watched them leave, Sam and Mikaela seated on the Autobot leader's hand. I looked back out the room and fixed myself, wiping away some sweat as I headed back down. I was feeling a bit light-headed but I could ignore that for what was going to happen next. I would only fight for self-defense, I promised myself as I took a seat with my parents.

A series of doorbells forced me to prepare myself as Dad stood up with a bemused expression on his face.

"Ronald Wikity?" I heard Simmons' voice and I calmed myself down. Easy Carol. Calming breaths, in out, in out.

"It's Witwicky. Who are you?"

"We're the government. Sector Seven." In, out, in, out.

"Never heard of it." Dad declared.

"Never will." Simmons paused. "Your son and daughter's the great-grandchildren of Captain Archibald Wikity, are they not?"

Dad sounded annoyed now. "It's Witwicky."

"May I enter the premises, sir?" Simmons asked slowly, even as he already entered. I involuntarily tensed at the almost menacing-sounding footsteps and I forced myself to relax once more.

"Ron, there's guys all over the front yard." Mom said, holding a bat behind her.

"What the heck is going on here?" Dad demanded to Simmons and I stood up with Mom shielding me from the men in black suits that suddenly appeared.

"Your son filed a stolen car report last night. We think it's involved in a national security matter."

"National security?" Dad repeated, following Simmons who was still looking around. Meanwhile, Judy was going hysterical. "They're ripping up my rose bushes!"

"That's right." Simmons confirmed. "National security."

Then, Judy went even more hysterical. "My God, Ron, they're everywhere! There's guys in suits all around the house! Look at this!"

"Could you stay off the grass?!" Dad called out, pissed off at the men who were stepping on his beloved grass.

While there was general mayhem around me, Simmons zoomed in on myself, trying, and failing, to act inconspicuous.

"How you doing, little lady?" he approached me and I made myself seem small. "Is your name Carol?"

"Yeah." I nodded, looking up at him.

"Well, I need you to come with us." Simmons said, acting kind. It would've been very convincing if he didn't have a gun peeking from underneath his suit.

"Whoa! Way out of line!" Ron exclaimed, getting in between me and Simmons, Judy joining him and glaring fiercely at Simmons. I felt little security at my parents trying to defend me from people in black suits and carrying loaded weapons like it was a toy. At least they tried though, right?

"Sir, I am asking politely. Back off." Simmons' eyes' hardened.

"You are not taking my daughter." bit back Dad, tone matching Simmons'.

"Really? You're gonna try to get rough with us?"

"No, but I'm gonna call the cops because there's something fishy going on around here."

"You're looking for Sam, aren't you?" I intervened, knowing that nothing good was going to get out from all this.

"Why yes little lady." Simmons acknowledged me and I stepped forward, ignoring Dad's hand on my shoulder.

"If I answer your questions, will you let us go?" I asked, making my voice firm. Even if I knew what was going to happen, these were still people with guns, people that have been experimenting on sentient beings. It was only right that I be on guard.

Simmons didn't get to answer as another man stepped forward and told him 'Sir, I think, direct contact.' I knew this act was done even before it started. At least Sam and the others won't get in trouble right?

"Carol, yes?" Simmons asked me, stepping forward with the scanner. I didn't answer, staying still. "I'm gonna need you to stay still."

I bit my bottom lip and watched as he ran the scanner over me. It started beeping like crazy when it reached the hand I used to touch Bumblebee.

"Fourteen rads." Simmons smirked. "Bingo! Tag 'em and bag 'em boys!"

The men surrounded us immediately and I kept calm as they dragged us all off. Mom and Dad were shouting but I couldn't really hear them as I focused on Simmons. No point escaping now, besides, I needed to stick to canon as much as possible.

"So Carol. Do you have any idea where your brother is?"

I ignored him and looked out the window, starting to count in my head. _1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7..._

I set my jaw and stared outside, ignoring everything Simmons was rambling about. Vaguely, I wondered how many more seconds it would take until we arrive at the Sector Seven base.

I was at 328 when the scanner started beeping like crazy. I zoned in on it, wondering why, until I remembered that the same thing happened when Sam was saved by Optimus...

"Hey little lady, I am talking to you!" I looked up at him to see him pulling out his stupid badge. "You see this? This is my 'Do-what-I-want-and-get-away-with-it badge. SO YOU BETTER TALK NOW!"

I scowled fiercely at him. "Like hell." I spat at him and tried to get a good grip on the leather seats.

I barely held on when the car impacted on Optimus' foot and a yelp escaped me when Optimus' fingers broke through the windows. The others gave surprised shouts and began to panic. I almost felt sorry for the straining and groaning metal above until I remembered that it wasn't alive. I'm just weird like that.

And why are the Autobots here? I barely knew them and they go and save me! Wasn't this supposed to happen with Sam and Mikaela?

I clutched at the seats when the car lifted and I was pretty sure I also left my stomach down on the floor. I kept from screaming when the metal gave one last screech and we were dropped from up there. I was pretty sure I was pale and shaking; I was a bit scared of heights.

The men I was with, including Simmons, all stared in fear at the towering form of Optimus who turned off his headlights and threw the piece of metal away. His monkey lackeys were sort of milling about, looking up at the 'big guys with big guns' as Simmons called the Autobots.

"Carol!" I turned my head so fast, I almost gave myself a backlash, but I didn't so I kicked the ruined car door open and catapulted myself into Sam's open arms.

I buried my face in Sam's jacket (dirty, ew) and started sniffling. Sam hugged me tighter and said softly, "Hey, we're here now. You're safe." I looked at him with watery eyes and opened my mouth.

Everyone, and I do mean _everyone_, cringed when I started wailing in the loudest voice (which is pretty loud) I can manage.

"SAM! I WAS SO SCARED! I AM NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN, YOU HEAR ME?!" I wailed and Sam began to shush me. "YOU EVIL EVIL PERSON! NEXT TIME YOU'RE DOING IT!"

And then everything was quiet. I was pretty sure I heard Jazz sigh in relief. Sam chuckled at my antics and I just tried to stop my sniffles. "Stay close to Bumblebee for now, okay?"

Then Sam went away and I was left with Bumblebee standing at my left side. We stared at each other wordlessly (I think I'll get a kink in my neck if I keep staring at him) for a while until I blinked and waved at him with a small smile. "Hi."

Bumblebee's audios perked high atop his head as he made a whirring sound and waved back. I grinned and held my hands hands behind my back, rocking on the heels of my feet. "You're very cute." I informed him. "Your name really suits you."

I laughed and Jazz, who was nearby, chuckled when Bee covered his lower face, acting like he was blushing. I pointed up at him and said, "It's true and you know it!" I laughed even more when Bumblebee began playing 'I'm Sexy and I Know It' on his speakers.

We turned back to where the action was and saw Sam and Mikaela checking out Simmons' 'Do-what-I-want-and-get-away-with-it' badge.

"What and where is Sector Seven?" Sam asked Simmons after a while.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Simmons sneered and I heard a disapproving click from Bumblebee. Then, I heard a pop and started cackling when Bumblebee started 'lubricating' the man.

"HEY!" Simmons positively roared, enraged. "GET THAT THING TO STOP, EH?!" While Simmons was facing humiliation, his monkey lackeys were gaping, the rest of the Autobots were amused and us civilians, me, Sam and Mikaela, were even more amused.

"Bumblebee, stop lubricating the man." I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one who heard the amused tone in Optimus' voice. Bumblebee did stop and shrugged unrepentantly.

It wasn't long before Mikaela and Sam began cuffing each of the black-suited monkeys to each other. Mikaela was about to cuff Simmons to the pole when I realized that since Mikaela's Dad's parole wasn't out of the bag, no one was going to have Simmons strip. An evil grin grew on my face without me realizing.

"Mikaela!" I called, jogging over. "Wait!"

Mikaela looked over and let go of Simmons who looked down his nose on her.

"Mr. Simmons, right?" I started, and Simmons turned his gaze on me. "Your clothes."

"What?"

"Your clothes, off, now."

There was at least a look of surprise on Simmons face. "For what?" he demanded.

Sam stood behind me along with Mikaela, who was still holding the remaining cuffs. "For my parents, my dog, our garden, my stuff, our house, for your threats, and yes, I heard those in the car, for trying to blackmail me, for lying, for Sam and Mikaela, for the Autobots, take your pick. I got more." I listed off on my fingers, crossing my arms at the last bit.

Simmons glared hatefully at me. "Little lady, this is the beginning of the end of your life." He said, starting to strip. I couldn't help the smug evil little grin that showed up on my face when I saw the S7 undershirt. "Those are nice." Mikaela commented on the pink boxers. Sam was trying pretty hard to not laugh but I heard his snickers behind me.

"Now get behind the pole." I made a shooing motion with my hands at him and Mikaela cuffed him to it. Then I stepped forward and backhanded Simmons in the face. I made sure that it would bruise. Sam 'oooh'-ed in sympathy. He had already been backhanded once, accidentally, I mean, when we were younger and I was beating up bullies in school.

"I like that one." I heard Ironhide say to Ratchet, who made a motion similar to rolling his eyes.

The sound of helicopters was suddenly very close to our location and me and Sam shared a look with each other. I had almost forgotten the back-up!

"Optimus! Incoming!" Ironhide said and sent a shockwave to the incoming cars, making them all skid and turn with each other.

"Roll out!" Optimus ordered and everyone began transforming. Optimus crouched down before the three of us and offered a hand as the others drove away. "Up you get." he told us and Sam forced me and Mikaela first before he followed. I scrambled for a good hold on his armor and Mikaela scrambled in beside me. Sam went up last after making sure that we got good places. Optimus began running, weaving through bridges, making sure that he wouldn't step on some cars on the highway.

Sam kept checking on me (the overprotective brother that he is) and I felt weird. We kept bouncing around on Optimus' shoulder (and my butt kept slipping off his armor but you don't need to know that) and I had to keep my hair out of my face multiple times.

I nearly shrieked in fear when Optimus began climbing the bridge and hung from the beams, but as it is, only a squeak escaped from my mouth. My heart was pounding in my ears and my hands were getting sweaty, I had to wipe my hands on my jacket multiple times. I wondered if my headphones around my neck would last until Mission City to keep myself from thinking about the ground that _was so f*cking far away andohmygodI'mgonnadie!_

I whined when my hand began slipping from too much sweat. Sam was also starting to panic as he grabbed my jacket. "Calm down." he told me in a shaky voice as the helicopters passed by underneath us. "Just calm down. Don't move too much."

I gave him a shaky smile. "Normally, I'd be the one telling you to."

Mikaela shushed us as the helicopter passed underneath us again.

Then suddenly, I lost my hold on the edge of the armor and I screamed. _8 years of gymnastics and acrobatics have left me! _I shouted in my mind.

"CAROL!"

Sam's horrified shout barely registered as I bounced off Optimus' foot and _ouchthatf*ckinghurts!_ My ribs were going to hurt in the morning, but I could care less because I WAS GOING TO DIE!

Or, well, that was until Bumblebee transformed mid-air and caught me in his hand, cradling me close to his chest. We skidded across the wet pavement, and I stayed close to Bee when the helicopters came near. He whirred at me and stood up, adopting a protective stance over me.

"STOP!" I yelled when the helicopters came close. "STOP IT! DON'T HURT HIM!" They didn't hear me and shot the line at Bumblebee's wrist. "STOP IT!" Another came close and shot at Bee's other wrist, then another one at his ankle. I was crying now, my throat hurt. Bumblebee lost balance and fell to the ground.

"NO! HE'S NOT FIGHTING BACK!" More black cars appeared, soldiers with loaded guns pointing them at me.

"Don't move!" called the one over the radio. "You are surrounded, arms up!"

I put up my arms, still screaming. "STOP IT!" Soldiers came and pushed me down on the ground. I scraped my cheek against the pavement, kicking and screaming. Bumblebee gave out agonized whines as he began to freeze. I was lifted by my arms and I headbutted whoever was holding me. They gave an angry, pained shout and I ran back to Bumblebee, colliding with one of the men who was freezing him. "STOP IT!"

Someone pulled me off the ground and I kicked them in the legs. I headbutted another and bit one in the hand. In the end, it was all futile as I was surrounded again. "Knock her out!" I heard someone call. "Hurry!"

My vision was already hazy through the blood running past my eye. My temple throbbed and my wrists were heavily bruised. I couldn't see clearly but I fought. I couldn't hear anything past the shouts, Bumblebee's agonized whines and the hissing of the guns that were freezing Bumblebee but I still kicked anything in reach.

_Bumblebee_.

I still squirmed even as I was pinned to the ground. He was right in front me, reaching out a metal hand. I cried for him, screaming his name, screaming for them to stop hurting him.

I didn't notice when they tied my hands behind my back and injected something at my neck. Someone pushed my head into the ground and I kept crying, screaming, kicking, anything I can.

I tried to keep him in my darkening sights, his form becoming a blur, his agonized whines disappearing into a ringing in my head.

Slowly, the world turned black.

_I'm sorry._

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**Finally! I managed to finish this! So how is it? Any good?**


	7. Chapter 6

**HEEEY GUYS! Did you know I almost went fangirl-crazy when I saw all the new reviews, faves and followers?  
****-fangirl squeal- All this makes me really really really really really really really really really happy! THANKS SO MUCH GUYS! XD (I actually I think I broke my neck when I squealed and bounced on my bed, hehe)**

**Stuff are starting to go south now, and canon's about to be...errm, mildly edited near the start of the Mission City event.**

**HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN TF4?! I've seen it and it was kind of sad, I mean, they killed Ratchet so violently!-cries-**

**Nothing much to say other than this so go ahead and read!**

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_**Disclaimer: **Nope, I don't own it! I only own Carol and this fanfic, and some ideas in this fic is from grapejuice101, kudos to her!  
_

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**Chapter 6**

...

I had woken up to the sound of a helicopter starting. I was lying on something soft, wondering why I was hearing a helicopter.

_Maybe they had no ambulance...?_ I had wondered, remembering that I was crossing the street when the bus hit me. _I wonder who yelled out my name and tried to warn me..._

I felt quite tired as I tried to stretch my sore muscles. My eyes were stuck close and I felt like what energy I had left was slowly being sucked away. Even though, I still managed to pry my eyes open and got a headache for it.

My brows furrowed when a black blob of blurry...something shined a very bright blurred blob at me.

"Carol?" a voice echoed from somewhere near my head. I turned in that direction, the name strangely familiar. I flinched slightly when I heard snapping near my ears. Finger snapping? "Can you hear me, Carol?"

"M' n'me's not Carol." I mumbled at the blurry blob flashing the bright blob. "I's N'cky. Nicky." I turned my head away from the bright blob. "Bright." I mumbled to the black blob and the bright blob disappeared. It kind of reminded me of fireflies...

"Nicky? Who's Nicky? Carol? Carol, I need you to stay with me." I heard the voice and felt someone slapping my cheek lightly, making me turn in the direction of the voice. "Do you remember what happened last time?"

I squinted my eyes at the vague black bob and realized it was a head, the hair to be specific. "Yeah?" I asked it, trying to focus on where the eyes would be. "I—I..." What _did_ happen back then? I know I got hit but I feel like I shouldn't even say anything..."I think I got hit...do I have a concussion?"

The black blob turned even more blurry and I realized it—she?—had moved back. "She got hit too hard. She might not be able to stand." I heard the same voice say quietly.

"Then get her a wheelchair or something. Simmons needs her to be debriefed along with the others." Simmons rang a bell inside my head and I ran a hand over my forehead. I blinked some more as my sight focused and memories started rushing in almost immediately. That's right, I was Carol now, not Nicky. I'm Sam's sister and I got reincarnated, weird event that was, heh. I still couldn't remember what last happened though. My jaw ached too.

"Inject her with—" I didn't understand what she said then, so I blinked a few more times and got around to finally acknowledging the pounding at the back of my head.

"Ow." I gasped when I brushed my fingers at the back of my head. I mean, that _really hurt_. I hissed when the same woman began probing around my head, wrapping it in bandages. "Did you know that that really hurts?" I asked her while she was wrapping up. "I still think I have a concussion." I told her thoughtfully. "Do I?" I turned to her.

"Slight." she muttered, annoyance clear in her eyes. I blinked and sent her an innocent look, just realizing that we were in a helicopter that just landed. I kept looking around, wondering why the voices in my head were screaming at each other. I ignored the other people in uniform chattering and carrying briefcases out of the helicopter. I turned to my left and asked miss nurse, "Why're there two voices in my head arguing?"

She blinked at me and furrowed her brows in confusion. "I'm sorry, what?"

"The voices," I patted my temple with a finger. "why're there two arguing about what I'm supposed to say and not say?" Miss nurse sent me an odd look and motioned to a buff dark-skinned bald guy in uniform to put me on the wheelchair. "I mean, the voices are actually a normal experience but they're louder now and I can't concentrate on anything else so I always try to turn and look at you so that I can focus on your face since when I focus on your face I end up saying stuff that I'm supposed to say to you but Nicky says that I'm not supposed to talk and the other voice says that I'm babbling about stuff and that I should act normal instead of rattling stuff I'm not supposed to say and—" I kept chattering to the nurse while buff guy lifted me up easily and lowered me carefully to the wheelchair.

I missed the grimace of the female nurse and the soft amused chuckle of the buff guy as I kept on chattering about the voices in my head, switching to why everyone was in suit and asking if I was in a movie shoot of some sort, then I asked if I _really_ had a concussion then I switched to asking why some humans get hot easily and followed with asking for a strawberry smoothie and wondering if lemon drops were as delicious as Dumbledore from Harry Potter makes it appear and ended it all with asking if I have a concussion again.

The buff guy wheeled me out of the helicopter ("Why's the sun so high up? Is it noon already?") and I stared curiously as we passed by some tourists and more men in black ("Are we in a new MiB movie? Did I get a place as an extra? But I thought I had a concussion...") and buff guy wheeled me to a totally inconspicuous(not) black van.

"Am I being kidnapped?" I asked buff guy when he carried me to the back seat. "Or is this special treatment because I have a concussion? I do have one right? Do you want to be my minion? Cuz', you know, you're always carrying me."

My questions were ignored as he folded up the wheelchair (I told him, "You would make a great minion.") and threw it in the back while he sat in the front with the another guy in black who was in the driver's seat. He was also buff (average kind of buff since bald buff guy was like, _really _buff) probably really tall with slicked back brown hair and shades with tan skin.

The two were quiet as slicked-hair guy started up the car, following behind another car, which was following behind another one, which was following behind another one and...you get what I mean.

My chatters slowly died down as Hoover Dam came into view. _Hoover dam? What am I doing here? Where's Sam? The AllSpark? Optimus, Jazz, Bumblebee...?...wait..._

My eyes narrowed as a flood of memories came rushing back. _Bumblebee! And Simmons! The asshole!_

I bit my bottom lip when I realized that I was in the movie (again) and that _they took Bumblebee!_

Suddenly, the aches and bruises in every part of my body made sense and I gritted my teeth to hold back angry tears and tried to ignore the growing fury in my gut. I sucked in a sharp breath when I realized that my legs were numb and that _I had a concussion _(which I recovered from pretty quickly, strange...)

My chatter stopped completely by the time we arrived near the entrance to the Hoover Dam. In the distance, I spied Simmons in army clothes, complete with a dark green beret, a bulletproof vest and combat boots. I cleared my face of its silent rage as buff guy opened the door and lifted me out to a wheelchair (Wait, where's the one they put in the back?) and started pushing me in his direction. I looked around and saw some soldiers escorting the one and only Maggie Madsen with her 'advisor', Glenn, trailing behind her. In the distance, just behind Simmons, I saw Banachek and the Secretary of Defense talking to a handful of soldiers in a line (I just saw Lennox and Epps and Nicky just died from fangasms but no one needs to know about that).

I was wheeled just in front of Simmons and I was silently thankful that no one gave me a black eye, letting my see Simmons with no problem at all. Simmons looked down at me again but I only smirked quickly before blanking my face when I saw the bruise marring his cheek. He deserves it, being the bastard that he is.

He leaned down slowly, arms crossed against his chest. "Hey kid." he said civilly. My eye twitched at the near-cordial tone. "I think we got off at a bad start, huh?" He paused, as if considering his words and I sent him a look, as if saying, _'You don't say?'_. "You must be hungry. You want something? A soda? Some hotdogs or burgers, Big Mac?"

"I want my brother's car." I told him petulantly. "And some water. Or coffee, I definitely need the caffeine. And my brother's car. I want that back too."

"Kid, I want you to listen very carefully." said Banachek who somehow popped out from somewhere behind Simmons. "People can die here. We know you and your brother were close, though we don't know where he is now. We need to know everything he told you, and we need to know it now."

"I know." I scowled at him. "But I'm hungry and this is like the finals on the last day of school. I can't keep functioning without food. And my, and my brother's, car. I want that too." I paused, remembering Mikaela. "And Mikaela's juvie record. I want that gone forever. And my parents, I want them safe. And probably some money too, to keep my mouth flapping to some other nosy people. You know, as insurance."

Simmons' brow twitched and I kept my smirk under wraps as Banachek seemed to sigh and fixed his shades on his nose ridge. "C'mon," he gestured to Simmons who raised a brow but took over buff guy's job of wheeling me (wait, _Simmons?_) while Banachek turned to me. "We'll talk about your brother's car."

"Girl's an extortionist." Simmons muttered behind me and I sent him a dirty look.

It wasn't long before Banachek started walking, motioning to multiple other soldiers to escort the others (the Secretary of Defense, Maggie and Glenn and the other soldiers from Qatar and several more men in black and more soldiers in a tan ensemble who followed our group behind us) who walked with Banachek and Simmons, who was still wheeling me (_Simmons_ is wheeling me! I mean, wth?!). Simmons bumped my wheelchair somewhere on the burning stove that was called a ground and I twisted around and poked his wrist with a sharp nail (I sharpened my nails for these sort of reasons only).

"Hey!" I growled at him. "Careful with the concussed girl!"

Multiple heads turned to us even as Simmons scowled and slapped away my finger. "It was just a bump little missy. No need for conniptions, it's not like your manicure's ruined." he sniffed condescendingly and I made a note to backhand him again somewhere in the near future.

"Haha. That was really funny." I deadpanned at him. He ignored me. I decided to make it two backhands. No one would question it if they spent half an hour in his presence.

Banachek kept calling out orders to multiple soldiers and men in suits (suits in this summer? Hot, very very burning hot, and not hot like 'hey-err-you're-real-hot-and-good-looking sort of thing but something more like gawd-I'm-burning-in-this-halp-me kind of hot.).

Several of the soldiers (the handful of people in Lennox's team) kept talking quietly at the back, occasionally glancing at me. Lennox moved forward, Epps right beside him. "Hey." he called. Simmons barely acknowledged him, arrogance clear in his stride. "Hey!" Simmons stared at the two down his nose, a frown barely visible on his face. "What's the kid doing here?"

Simmons' opened his mouth but I cut him off, raising a hand as if I was in class. "My brother bought a car that ended up as a giant alien robot. I was collateral damage, is that the term?"

"Alien robot?" Epps repeated almost hesitantly, sharing a look with Lennox. "You mean all this secret shit's about some alien robots?"

"Like the one in Qatar?" asked someone from Lennox's team. Someone groaned when I chirped a 'yes'. "Man, I knew those invisible force field's for real."

"Discussions later." cut off Simmons. "No need to be so hasty, we'll get to that."

"Yeah." I agreed, all grave and somberly. "Listen to the condescending bastard who beats up kids for fun. He's a real great leader." _Now let's see if the famous overprotective!Lennox was true in this universe..._

Simmons scowled at me some more (though I think it was a glare, I wouldn't know, he was wearing shades...), Lennox mirroring him though it wasn't directed at me. "You _beat up a kid?_" he asked lowly, face slowly contorting in anger (and ohhhh boooy, Simmons is in for hell!). Epps' face was like a copy of Lennox's face if the anger in his face was anything to go by.

"Nothing you have to concern yourself with. It was a misunderstanding." Simmons sniffed and looked back ahead. I rolled my eyes. "You have a gift of underestimating things Simmons. Might be the only thing I'll miss about you, when the time comes." I informed him, slumping back on the wheelchair. I ignored his scoff and wondered how on earth did we have a casual (well, near casual for us) conversation with each other?

"Even I have to agree with Lennox, Simmons." inserted the Secretary of Defense from Simmons' other side. "Beating up kids does take things too far." Keller turned to me, the famous old man twinkle in his eye. "How old are you little miss?"

"12, sir." I answered respectfully. "I'm tall for my age since I do sports a lot. I'm plenty smarter too, I skipped grades."

"Ah, well, aren't you a little genius." he said kindly and I grinned at him, pleased. Simmons sneered quietly behind me but it disappeared when Keller frowned at him disapprovingly.

"My name's Carol." I introduced myself to Keller and Lennox. They didn't get to answer since Banachek started talking.

"Okay!", called Banachek before anyone else could talk, as we all went down some ramps. "Here's the situation: You've all had contact with the NBEs."

"NBEs?" repeated Epps, looking to Banachek.

"Non-Biological Extraterrestrials. Try and keep up with the acronyms." replied Banachek just as we all entered a tunnel with a light at the end. Like, maybe we're all dead and we need to reach out for the light at the end of the tunnel and stuff like that...yeah, I know, my humor sucks.

"What you're about to see is totally classified." Banachek declared, glancing back at our group as the faint sound of engines running and some electric tools echoed in the hangar.

"As opposed to the other classified things you guys are keeping from the whole world?" I asked, but no one answered me. Banachek stopped to the side as the rest of us stared in awe and fear at the first metal popsicle in existence.

"Dear God." gasped Keller. "What is this?"

I gotta admit, Megatron still looked imposing even if he was only a frozen popsicle. With his size and the spikes (which was _everywhere_ on his armor, you gotta wonder how he doesn't poke himself with it) on his armor, he'd look really scary. And his teeth (dentas, in transfan terms), like, they were this tiny spikes stuck together in a line and _ugh_. I mean, I saw it in the movie, but this is like, better (or worse, depending on how you look at it) than 3D because I'm _living_ it!_  
_

I was cut off from my line of thought when Banachek moved closer to Megs and Simmons followed, wheeling me with him. The others followed dazedly, still staring at the iced imposing figure.

"We think he made his approach over the North Pole, our gravitational field screwed up his telemetry." said Banachek, facing us. "He crashed in the ice, probably a few thousand years ago. We shipped him here to this facility in 1934."

"We call him NBE-1." added Simmons from behind me (oh yeah, forgot he was still wheeling me).

"I'd hate to tell you you're wrong but that's Megatron." I told Simmons and Banachek, twisting around to look at them. I wondered when my legs would start working. "He's the leader of the Decepticons, the big baddies who's after the universe."

"He's been in cryostasis since 1935. Your great-great grandfather made one of the greatest discoveries in the history of mankind." Banachek told me.

"Fact is, you're looking at the source of the modern age." continued Simmons, motioning to Megatron. "The microchip, lasers, spaceflight, cars, all reverse-engineered by studying him."

"And you didn't think the United States military might need to know that you're keeping a hostile alien robot frozen in the basement?" asked Keller angrily, approaching Banachek.

Unfazed by the Secretary of Defense's anger, Banachek said, "Until these events, we had no credible threat to national security."

"Well, you got one now." retorted Keller, walking back to get a better look at the giant metal popsicle.

"So why Earth?" asked Lennox when it was clear no one else was saying anything. I looked at him and said boredly, "It's the AllSpark." I yawned afterwards. I really need more sleep. All these stress and tension everyone's exuding is making _me_ tense and I'm really tired right now.

Keller zeroed in on me, though his expression softened considerably when he saw me rubbing my eyes in an effort to stay awake. "AllSpark? What's that?"

"The Cybertronians came here looking for the AllSpark, a cube-like thing." I started, "It's like the most important artifact to them, since it was what gives life to their race." I said to Keller, looking up at the popsiclized warlord. "There was a war on their homeworld, two sides battling for the AllSpark: the Autobots and Decepticons. Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots and this Megatron is the leader of the Decepticons, this one in front of us right now. For some reason, the AllSpark was sent out of Cybertron and landed in Earth. Megatron followed it here where he crashed into the ice, and his minions, some other Decepticons, followed him here."

"Hold on, what about the Autobots?" asked Epps, walking a bit closer to my position.

I shrugged. "Well the Autobots are here too. Look, the main idea is that Megs here plans to use the Cube to give life to human technology and take over the universe and the Autobots are after Megs so that he doesn't get it and to protect the Cube. Like, Decepticons bad guys and Autobot good guys."

"And you're sure about that?" asked Simmons, sharing a look with Banachek when I nodded and said 'yeah'.

I raised a brow at them, when they remained quiet, already knowing the next scene. "You guys know where it is, don't you?" I said Sam's line.

They kept quiet for a few more moments until Banachek motioned to us. "Follow me." And follow we did as Banachek led us to another hangar.

"You're about to see our crown jewel." he told us, opening a door and motioning us in.

We entered a circular-walled room, glass on one side and a circle of pictures in the other. The AllSpark came into view, giant and majestic. "Carbon dating puts the Cube here around 10,000 BC." said Banachek, looking out the glass with us. "The First Seven didn't find it until 1913." I had to crane my neck over the ledge to get a good view. Simmons left his position behind me to stand slightly beside Banachek and Lennox leaned on the ledge beside me. "They knew it was alien because of the matching hieroglyphics on the Cube and as well as NBE-1. President Hoover built the Dam around it. Four football fields thick of concrete: a perfect way to hide its energy from being detected by anyone or...any alien species on the outside."

I blinked and narrowed my eyes when I saw something small and silver dart away from somewhere down the hangar. Was it my imagination?

"Wait, back up. You said the Dam hides the Cube's energy." Maggie said in her quiet voice, turning to Banachek. "What kind exactly?"

"Good question." Banachek nodded and we all set off again.

This is like an adventure! One life-changing quest to save the world and have character development! To brave the perilous and confusing map of Hoover Dam, doing side quests and learning new knowledge, saving comrades and making new allies along the way!

...you know what I mean.

Anyway, we entered the famous room with the Freddy Krueger clawed walls and the innocent glass box in the middle. "Please step inside. They have to lock us in." And then they locked us in. Simmons stopped wheeling me when I was right in front of the glass, going to stand over the switch. I tugged my jacket close, feeling a bit cold.

"Wow." whispered Epps, looking around. I had to twist around _again_ to be able to look at him. "What's that? Freddy Krueger done been in here or something?" he asked, staring at the gouges in the walls. Glenn came up beside him and immediately voiced his opinion. "Oh no man, Freddy Krueger have four blades man, that's only three, that's Wolverine!" Then he laughed and mimed a slashing motion with his left hand. "Right? That's Wolverine!" I quirked a small smile at his antics. At least someone's trying to be the comic relief. Better than all the tension.

Simmons didn't agree. "Very funny." Glenn sobered up pretty quickly and my smile dropped.

"Anybody have any mechanical devices? BlackBerry? Key alarm? Cellphone?" Simmons' gaze dropped to me and he pointed. "You. Gimme your headphones."

I blinked and just noticed the headphones which were still intact around my neck. "No." I deadpanned at him.

Simmons opened his mouth to say something, probably to try and convince me to give it to him, but Glenn (thankfully) held up his Nokia. "I got a phone." he shrugged.

Simmons took it and handed us goggles. He checked out the phone as we all put on our goggles and slowly surrounded the glass box. It's like the start of some weird cult ritual, see, we were all quiet, silent and imposing, slowly putting on our goggles as we surrounded the subject (the glass box) and even more slowly ducked down to get a better view.

"Nokia are real nasty." Simmons said and I was slapped out of my daydream as he snapped open Glenn's phone. "You've got to respect the Japanese, they know the way...of the samurai." It was spoken almost reverently, I nearly laughed. Others just sent Simmons a few strange looks when he punctuated what he said with slamming the glass box's door close.

"Nokia's from Finland." Maggie whispered after a few seconds of silence while we fixed our goggles.

It took a bit for Keller to answer it in a voice as quiet as hers. "Yes, but he's, you know, a little strange. He's a little strange."

"His face is a little strange." I chipped in quietly and Glenn snickered while Keller sent me a disapproving look. I only shrugged and muttered, "It's true."

We all quieted down when the whirring began. "We were able to take the Cube radiation and funnel it into that box." Simmons said, pointing at the box and going about the room pulling switches.

There was a flash of light from the laser projector thing (_what_ do they call these things?) and the Nokia began shaking before it burst out in the form a small spider-like being. Nearly all of us jumped in surprise at the sudden movement and we all sort of zoomed in on it before it suddenly charged at me. I squeaked in surprise and it bounced back to the middle of the box before charging at Epps who leaned back immediately. It flipped over when it bounced back from the glass and it's legs were all wiggly as it tried to stand up.

"Mean little sucker, eh?" asked Simmons from behind us, near the door.

"That thing is freaky!" Maggie exclaimed. Even though I was a transfan, I had to admit it was a little freaky. Well, I never liked spiders anyway.

"Kind of like the itty bitty energizer bunny from hell, huh?" Simmons asked rhetorically as one of the soldiers (I didn't know who) tapped the glass, the light tapping sound drawing the Nokia-bot's attention.

The little energizer bunny from hell (more like a spider, honestly) tapped about the box before it transformed and started shooting at everything in any and all directions. It even sent a tiny little miniature missile at the door until it hit the glass and bounced back upside down, the bullets going haywire all over the place.

It was...kind of cute, in a weird metal-spider kind of way.

"Ah, he's breaking the box." I heard Simmons mutter to Banachek and there was an electrical zap again and the following light flashed even longer.

I leaned back on the wheelchair, scowling and trying to blink back the dancing dark spots in my sight when the light died down. I just had a concussion, and the flashy lights are making me dizzy. I continued to blink and held back a gasp when my vision blurred out to white and a series of images flashed by at the front of my mind.

Frenzy going in Mikky's purse, Frenzy hiding in a rosebush, Frenzy attaching himself to the bottom of a black car, one of S7's cars, and the small silver flash I saw in the AllSpark hangar.

It took me a while to return to reality where I saw Lennox's face near mine.

"Hey!" I focused on him when he snapped his fingers in front of me. "Hey, you okay, kid?"

"Yeah." I blinked. "Sorry, susceptible when exposed to bright flashes of light. I had a concussion."

"You okay now?"

"Yeah." I nodded, putting down my hand which I realized was clutching my hair (where'd my goggles go?). "Sorry about that."

"Hey, it's okay; you couldn't help it." Lennox said with a small grin, standing up straight (he was slightly crouched down in front of me) and he ruffled my hair.

Then, reality Gibbs-slapped me and I remembered the vision about Frenzy. (I mean, a vision?) It was too late though, since a small earthquake happened and some dust was raining down on us. Everyone looked up at the sound of the explosion. It was only a second before the alarms began.

"Gentlemen, they know the Cube is here." Keller said gravely and everyone burst into action. Banachek immediately started calling whoever was on the other line while the others began preparing (or whatever they could prepare since we all literally had remotely useful on us). I felt a slight tingling on my feet.

"Banachek. What's going on?" Banachek barked on the phone.

"Well, the NBE-1 hangar has lost power—"

"_What?!_" Banachek just about blew up. Simmons looked murderous himself.

"—and the backup generator is just not gonna cut it!" the dude on the other line rambled quickly.

"Do you have an arms room?" Lennox asked immediately, face set in grim determination. Banachek didn't answer but led us all out of the room. It was Epps who began wheeling me as we followed Banachek to the arms room. Outside, it was chaos. People shouting and tripping over themselves, all going in one direction.

"Get everyone to the NBE-1 hangar!" Banachek roared across the noise. Epps was fast, I felt like I was riding a speeding car, honestly. I think Maggie tripped a few times on our way to the arms room, having worn high heels and Glenn was huffing and panting like there was no tomorrow. Keller was a bit better, being able to catch up with a bit of effort. My knuckles were white against the handrests of the wheelchair. I bit my lip and tried moving my feet. A few twitches, but nothing else. When is this thing going to wear off?

In the arms room, people were loading up, passing around different items like guns and ammo, some were on the trucks, some were loading up the guns, a few were running around, doing something. Maggie, Glenn and I were just on the sidelines; we had no idea what to do. Glenn was looking around, sweating profusely, his gaze often straying to the guns strapped on the trucks while Maggie's hands were shaking and she kept twisting and turning, rubbing her arms and hugging herself. Keller was pacing around, occasionally helping some soldiers with the sabot rounds. Me? Well, I really have no idea. I think I was pale, my hands were sweating and I had to even my breathing that was speeding up.

I glared at my unresponding legs. I kept trying to move them and the most I could get were slight, shaky movements. I could feel prickling on the soles of my feet and I desperately chanted in my mind for it to work work work_ work workwork**work**_—

It hovered slightly above the metal of the wheelchair and I had to fight back a victorious whoop when I managed to shakily move the other one too, but for now, I just gave myself a small smile.

"Forty millimeter sabot rounds on that table!" Simmons barked out, speed-walking to said table. I looked at him and pulled on Maggie's sleeve, "Hey, get me to Simmons, please, I have to tell him something."

She nodded okay a couple more times than necessary and pushed me to Simmons, though she paused, along with everyone else when the hanging lights wavered and flickered. Simmons broke the silence by loading one more round in the gun in his hands.

"Simmons!" I barked, and Maggie jumped, pushing me onwards. "You got to take me to my car." I told him quickly when I was right in front of him. "You hear me, you gotta take me to him, he knows what to do with the Cube."

"Your car?" Simmons barely looked at me, continuing on loading his weapon. "It's confiscated."

"Well unconfiscate it!" I snapped angrily, on the edge of backhanding him.

"We do not know what will happen if we ever let it near this thing!" Simmons said just as angrily. I scowled at him, somehow managing to stand up on shaky legs (it's wearing off!). It's just—I was _so angry_!

I went up in his face, near-shouting, "You don't, but I do! And it was theirs to begin with, you grade A idiot!"

"I have people's lives here at stake little lady!" he shouted back.

Lennox came to my rescue by dragging Simmons away while I slumped back on the wheelchair where Maggie patted my back. "Take her to her car!" he barked, looming over Simmons. The moment Simmons' back met with the truck, an S7 operative in black pointed his gun at Lennox who drew his own pistol at him. Lennox's other teammates began beating up the other S7 lackeys.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Banachek exclaimed, holding out his hands, trying to diffuse the situation. Glenn was pale, holding his hands up in the air. Maggie quickly backed off, pulling me with her.

"Drop your weapon soldier." Simmons said slowly, nervousness in his tone. Lennox looked like a rabid dog ready to bite, honestly. I reminded myself to thank Lennox at the end of this whole fiasco. "There's an alien war going on and you're gonna shoot me?"

"You know, we didn't ask to be here." Lennox bit out, eyes shifting to him the other S7 operative who had a gun trained on him.

"I'm ordering you under S-7 executive jurisdiction." Simmons said authoritatively, well as authoritatively he can with a gun trained on him.

"S-seven don't exist." said Epps, a challenge in his tone.

"Right, and we don't take orders from people who don't exist." agreed Lennox, continuing to loom over Simmons. This is like one of those Wild West movies, where everyone was pointing guns at each other and negotiating while looking cool at the same time. Or a really awesome spy movie. Why am I even thinking this now?

"I'm going to count to five." Simmons tried again.

"Well I'm going to count to three." Lennox said, cocking the gun.

The rest of us were quiet, though my breathing was a bit uneven. None of us wanted to interfere, knowing that nothing good might come out of it. Well, I knew what was going to happen, but I still didn't want to interfere. They were just outright scary. Like Godzilla and a T-rex. An owl and a snake. A cat and a dog.

"Simmons?" Thank god for Keller.

"Yes sir?"

"I'd do what he says. Losing's not really an option for these guys." Keller said calmly and Simmons stared at him for a while before looking back at Lennox, nodding slowly.

"Okay." he said. "Alright. Hey, you want to lay the fate of the world on the kid's Camaro, that's cool." he told Lennox as if to placate him.

And so we set off once again. I heard the wailing cries of Bumblebee even before Banachek pushed open the door.

I stared, horrified at the unmoving Bumblebee as he continued his pained cries.

"NO!" I shrieked. "GET THEM AWAY!" The whole of Lennox's platoon seemed to jump at my shriek, speeding into action by dragging the other S7 operatives away. Banachek and Simmons kept calling for them to stop, Lennox and Epps following them. Maggie and Glenn even helped while I wheeled myself as close as I can to Bumblebee.

"Bumblebee!" I called, pushing past the men in white who were spraying him. "STOP THAT!" I shrieked at them and they only stopped when they saw Banachek and Simmons also stopping the others. They were quiet as I wheeled myself close to Bumblebee.

"Bumblebee!" I called and he turned his helm to me slowly, optics glazed over with pain though he focused on me after a few seconds. "Bumblebee! Are you okay?" No wait, that was a stupid question, of course he wasn't!

I was _this_ close to starting on tug my hair (the action is kind of therapeutic) when Bumblebee's mask slid down when he caught sight of the others. He transformed his hand into a cannon, aiming at the ones with the freezing guns. He whirred angrily and looked like he had a double take when he saw me in a wheelchair. He rolled from where he lay on the metal slab, landing over me in a crouched position. He chirped whirred and clicked, cannon waving around dangerously while his other hand took me carefully from my wheelchair and cupped me close to his chest. I heard something soothing humming in his chest but that wasn't the point here!

"Bumblebee! It's fine!" I called out to him. "They're safe! They won't hurt you anymore!"

He whirred some more, standing up and taking a few steps backward, cannon still aimed at the others. My 'oof' was near inaudible as Bumblebee practically squished me to his chassis. "Bumblebee!" I exclaimed, already exasperated. He's worse than a kid protecting his presents for Christmas.

Slowly, his mask slid up though his cannon was still on. "Look, the AllSpark is here." I told him quickly. "They know where it is and you gotta get it out of here. Megatron is close."

Bumblebee straightened at that and he put me gently on his right shoulder, like Optimus did for me, Sam and Mikaela last night. I motioned to the soldiers at the floor who wore varying shades of awe and fear on their faces.

It was Banachek, Simmons and Lennox who snapped out of it first and began running. Bumblebee was only walking, ducking down tunnels, keeping up easily with the group. I bounced on his shoulder, and I made sure that I wouldn't fall off this time.

"I'm glad you're okay." I told him quietly and he turned to me slightly, chirping softly in response. I smiled at him and patted the side of his helmet. He let out a low crooning tune before he looked forward and we resumed pace.

Inside my head, Nicky Harrison was yelling 'Fluff fluff fluuuuuuuuuffff!' I ignored her. She was just weird like that.

We arrived at the AllSpark hangar soon enough. All the scientists in white were already evacuated and only soldiers remained, staying at the sidelines.

Bumblebee walked up to the AllSpark slowly, crouching briefly to let me down. I dropped on the concrete on slightly wobbly legs, taking a few steps back as Bumblebee stood closer to the Cube, hands hovering. He touched the corner, an electrical surge sweeping throughout the surface of the Cube. I wasn't the only who gaped in awe when the Cube began folding in on itself.

There was static in the air as the Cube grew smaller, electricity zapping as Bumblebee held the smaller Cube reverently. Once it stopped, Bumblebee held it close, looking to us smaller beings. "_Message from Starfleet captain...let's get to it..._"

Lennox took charge. "He's right, we stay here, we're screwed with Megatron in the other hangar. Mission City is 22 miles away, we're gonna sneak that Cube out of here and hide it somewhere in the city."

"Good! Right!" Keller agreed immediately.

"Whoa!" I intervened, running to Lennox. "You can't just bring something as powerful as that in a city filled with innocent people!" I pointed at the Cube in Bumblebee's hands. "The Decepticons would definitely be chasing us for that and there's too many people there who'd get hurt!"

"It's the only choice!" Lennox argued. "It's the closest city there is and another city would be too far. They'd catch us out in the open and we'd be dead before we even put up a fight!" Lennox turned to Keller (what am I, chopped liver?). "We'd need the Air Force to make a stand."

Well, so much for trying to save more innocent people.

Keller turned to Simmons. "This place must have some kind of radio link!" he said.

"Yes!" Simmons nodded.

"Shortwave, CB!" Keller listed off and Simmons nodded some more.

"Sir, you got to figure out a way to get word out to them." Lennox told Keller before he turned to us. "Let's move!"

As I trailed after Lennox and his group, I heard Keller and Simmons going on about the radio link while Bumblebee walked over some equipment and crouched near me. He nudged me with a finger and placed the Cube gently in my arms. I hugged it to myself reflexively, feeling a warm humming at its surface. I actually thought it was going to zap me.

"I'll take care of it." I told Bumblebee and he nodded, transforming into his alt mode.

Lennox began barking out orders and this time, I followed it. I entered Bumblebee, staying in the driver's seat and putting a seatbelt over the Cube on the other front seat. I pulled a seatbelt on me, making sure it was locked. Bumblebee's window rolled down and I looked at Lennox.

"You guys will be in the lead, and we'll follow you. Just keep a straight route directly to Mission City, got it?" he ordered and I nodded. "Got it."

Bumblebee's engine roared in response and Lennox backed off, going to a truck parked behind us, still barking out orders.

I took a deep breath, touching the wheel and staring at the Autobot symbol at its middle. It's time now.

"Come on Bumblebee." I told him. "It's show time."

_Mission City, here we come_.

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**Well, that's all for now. I'll just go and drink my soda while I calm my plot bunnies raging in my head. Thoughts? Reviews? Comments? Anything at all? :D**


	8. (Interlude)

**HIIIIII guys! Thank you dudes sosososooooo much! With 46 reviews, 60 faves and 77 alerts?! I don't know what makes me happier! (well, meeting the Bots would be good, but dreaming's as far as that gets, heh)**

**Does anyone ever read author's notes at the top, cuz I wanted to ask if you guys wanted to add any more Bots (or Cons, I think I can do that and I won't know my limits if I don't try) that weren't in the first, second, third or fourth movie...?**

**OH YES, FORGOT TO MENTION! I only made an interlude for now since I won't be able to work on much of the next chapter. We're kind of recovering from a recent typhoon and while we have electricity and stuff, WE HAVE NO INTERNET. Ugh. Plus, quarterly exams next week, like 30% of my grade so I'd have to put this off in a bit. I'll try my best to put up the next ACTUAL chapter next next weekend (next week we have Saturday classes to make up for lost time) but still, no promises.**

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_**Disclaimer:** I don't own Transformers, only Carol and her strange personality._

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**Interlude 1 - Nicky's Story: "Dad had a lot of cars..."**

**...**

I loved cars. That was one of the many things people can generalize me with. It's not that I like cars like how all those mechanical and technical stuff nerds know about, like how Mikaela can take an engine apart and put it back in record time. I liked cars like someone liking their laptop that isn't their own, or liking their friends' smartphone that was 'the latest in the market like wow that's really expensive stuff right there but I know I won't ever have it so I'll settle with just liking it from afar' sort of stuff.

I suppose I began to like cars when I was still a little kid, little Nicole 'Nicky' Harrison with blonde braided pigtails and carnation pink sundresses. Dad and I were never as close as me and my brother in the family category but we were pretty close in 'wise dude with his pigtailed student-slash-daughter' category. He was the one who kept teaching me important stuff, like the 'pray before you eat' or the 'don't give up even if you fall' kind of things while Mom was the one who taught me all the womanly stuff, turning me into a little lady.

Dad was often at work, leaving me and my brother and mom behind. He stayed there nearly most of the day, pulling overtimes when needed. Sunday was always free though. He kept it a point to spend time with me and Michael, or Mike, as I liked to call him. Dad liked collecting those little cars which he kept on his office, behind a clear shiny glass panel. He had hundreds of it, big ones, little ones, giant ones and miniature ones, all displayed fabulously in the display case that spanned practically the whole wall.

I went to his office just to stare at them, knowing how much care and effort Dad went through to collect it all. Every two months or so, he would open the case carefully and gently, one by one, take out all of it, starting the the smallest ones. The carpet of his office would often be filled with dust and cars, with rags, brushes and a few polishes near.

Dad would sit on the carpet, hunching over his precious collection, dusting it, wiping off some non-existent dirt then polishing it like how mom scrubs the bathroom tiles so clean, we slip on it, and then putting it back in line with the other clean ones before getting another and repeating the process.

Michael and I often stayed close, watching him repeat each process meticulously. Mike would be there for the first few before he grows bored and goes to the game room where he plays more Pokemon. I continue to stay close, watching him, recording each tiny movement in my head.

I kept doing it until I stopped when I was 12. That time, I'd rather stay with my friends than with Dad, gossiping and giggling to ourselves, talking about our crushes and hobbies, those sort of stuff.

Though, in each little girl group like this one, there were always the snobby, spoiled ones who brags about everything and anything that no one really cares about but has to or else she'd sic 'Daddy' on you.

Adeline was her name, I think, a little freckled-faced redhead with big green eyes and cute curls that bounced with each step she took. She was spoiled, that much was certain, even with just one look at her (it was pretty obvious with all the shiny jewelry she dumps on herself, and the shiny expensive always _new_ shoes).

There was one time when I mentioned that I often stayed with Dad and his cars. Adeline zoned in on me immediately, glaring with a childish sort of condescension on her face.

"That's lame." she declared just when I was barely done telling them about Dad's cars. "My Dad's better, he'd have all the actual cars and not just those rip-off toys."

"Well he doesn't have them yet does he?" I shot back, feeling strange that I was defending my Dad who I wasn't really close to.

"He will!" she stomped, face scrunched up and acting like the spoiled brat she is.

And that was the end of our little discussion. It was a few days after that when me and my friends saw Adeline next.

It was a Friday, I remember that much since Tori (another classmate, brown hair pixie styled and brown eyes, loves the color green) wanted us five in the group to come over and have a sleepover on Saturday night. We were walking out with all the other students and it was just a few minutes before we heard screaming.

At first, I thought it was just some grade schooler who was crying or something (which was pretty common back then) but then Elle, or Ellie as we call her, said that it sounded like Adeline. Marge agreed immediately and made a show of looking around before pointing somewhere to her left. "Look!" she exclaimed, "Isn't that Adeline?"

We looked and yes, it was Adeline. She was red in the face and looked half mutinous and half ready to cry. The driver (we knew him when he drove us home once, Adeline was sick and it was raining so no one opposed to me asking for a favor to drive us home; he's a pretty cool guy too) looked annoyed and exasperated, trying to get Adeline in the Toyota. Adeline was quick to deny, ordering him to go back home and 'get Daddy's expensive car' because apparently she won't go into some 'cheap car made of scrap metal'.

I disagree, that Toyota was actually one of the better ones. But Adeline wouldn't have any of it and resorted to taking out a shiny pink phone encrusted in diamonds at the back, yelling to her driver about 'calling Daddy' and having him fired.

"Come on." Tori got our attention. "Let's just go home. Adeline's just drawing unnecessary attention to herself. Leave her." The others murmured agreements and began walking away. I followed them, though I kept glancing back at Adeline who was now stomping away in true spoiled brat fashion, having thrown her phone at the sidewalk.

She turned a bit, red curls bouncing, and we met eyes. At first she looked a bit surprised but it was quick to morph into anger and she scowled at me. She whirled away, stomping in the other direction.

I stared a bit after her before realizing that my friends had left me and I was quick to run after them. I only glanced back once before putting it out of my mind.

* * *

Next day, Saturday, I decided to stay home. Something about Adeline and the story I told her about my Dad's cars nagged at me so I was pretty much preoccupied the whole day. On Sunday, Dad was home. I had an impulse to join him so I did. I guess the surprise on his face was expected once I sat beside him when he started cleaning his cars again.

"I don't see you here often." he half-smiled genially at me. It was always like that. Only half-smiles.

"Uhm, yeah." I said awkwardly. "I um, I just wanted to watch, again, uh, you know."

He just kept smiling and turned back to his cars. All was quiet as he went on cleaning.

I...kind of missed this.

So I watched.

* * *

The cleaning cars thing where I watch him went on and soon, it became another habit, like a father-daughter tradition.

That was, until Dad got caught in a car accident. It was rush hour and he was late. It was another Saturday, and Mike was out with his friends, playing baseball. Mom was home and was gardening when we got the call. I was talking to Tori on the phone about the latest styles she saw on some magazine. I dropped the call quickly with a rushed goodbye when Mom came into my room, looking panicked and putting on her coat.

"Your dad's in a coma." Was what the doctor said when I asked him what happened and why Mom was crying. "He was hurt pretty bad. He might not even wake up. Too much damage was done and he might not recover."

I didn't know what else to do so I sat down beside Dad who was connected to all these wires and machines, nearly all parts of his body covered in bandages. Mom stayed for a while before leaving to get Mike. I didn't notice. I was too busy staring at Dad's chilly hand.

* * *

Dad was out for three years. He was dropped by the company, but the president made sure to keep one spot open in case he wakes up. He was a close friend of Dad's too. Mom held on, her new job paying enough to keep him in the hospital and she ended up taking another job to be able to pay for Mike's and my tuition.

Mike studied hard, making sure to keep his grades high and taking part-time jobs to help out Mom. I worked all along with him. Mom was working herself to the ground, and her once young-ish and healthy body started showing signs of tiredness. She was getting eyebags and wrinkles and she had a few grey hairs.

The moment Mike finished, he started working, saving up for college all the while helping in paying stuff around the house. My savings went to my tuition, and in high school, I was home alone most of the time, mom and my brother busy working. All the while, Dad's cars were left to collect dust in his once pristine office.

It was three years of my Dad in a coma when he woke up. I had gone to visit, bringing a fresh set of daisies and lilies. Dad loved daisies, and lilies were Mom's favorite.

"Hey Dad." I greeted him softly, holding his hand. The machine's beeps was my only reply. "I got high scores again. The teachers are really driving us to the ground. I had to drop my dance classes to help out around the house. Well," I leaned back on the chair, keeping my hand in his. "I'm the only one in the house now, most of the time. Mom and Mike only have dinner and breakfast at home, most of the time. I'm home alone during weekends."

No response.

"Mom misses you so much, you know. She had another break down last night. Mike has some permanent eyebags now. And his smile looks strained. He tries to keep the life in the house light but...it doesn't really work anymore."

No response.

"The house is quiet nowadays. Our electricity consumption's gone down. I don't really watch TV or use anything else other than what's in the kitchen. I've learned how to cook now too. I'm pretty good at it. I can even cook your favorite steak now. Mom says you'd be proud."

No response. I stared dully at our hands, his still unresponsive.

"I don't know what to say anymore." I told him, voice quiet. "Mom says you'll wake up. Three years. Three years, Dad. Why won't you wake up?"

No response. I sighed.

"Your cars are collecting dust. Your office is too. I want to clean it. Make it look like it's still being used." I looked at his closed eyes. "I can't. It hurts...so much. So much..."

No response.

I left.

* * *

One week later, he woke up.

The nurse who called us was the exact same nurse who was taking care of him. She sounded pretty excited herself when she told me about it. I called Mom immediately while the nurse called Mike. Mom dropped everything immediately and told me that she'd be heading to the hospital soon.

Mom stopped at Mike's workplace and the two arrived at Dad's old Mustang the same time I did in a cab. I just about tossed the money to the driver as I made a beeline for the doors (in stiletto heels, mind you, the restaurant required it for the waitresses), right behind Mom while Mike stayed close behind me.

The three of us kind of pounded on the elevator buttons in our haste and I only offered a sheepish smile to the two nurses (who were very understanding) with us. The moment the elevator doors whooshed open, Mom was out, her blonde hair flying out behind her.

Mom stopped in the doorway of the room. I nearly crashed into her because of the sudden stop and stuck out an arm to stop Mike before he crashes into me too. I bit back tears and grinned in happiness instead when she slowly walked forwards to wear Dad sat. Mike and I couldn't help but stare. We kind of wanted to join Mom who was sobbing in Dad's arms but we didn't really want to interrupt.

Dad looked up from where Mom had snuggled on him. He gave us an oh-so-familiar smile. "Where's my little peanuts now eh?" Peanuts, it was a family joke since Mike and I loved peanuts and ate them all the time when we were younger.

Either way, Mike and I launched ourselves in his embrace.

* * *

Everything pretty much became better then. Mom worked two jobs for about two months before she dropped out of one, and since Dad was up and about and eager to work after years of resting, he was allowed back to the company. Dad's best friend was pretty happy too, and joked about how now he can stop making up excuses on why he kept Dad's spot open. Dad told Mike to stop working, if at least for a while so that he can go to college. I did too, but only for a few weeks before I went back to becoming a waitress again. It's still just a part time job only while I prepared for my own college stuff.

Mom remarked happily at one of our now-frequent family meetings that once we've sunk low in the sea, the only option was to go up. Dad laughed at that while Mike agreed mock-seriously. I only rolled my eyes. Mom loved to drop quotes at the most opportune times she gets.

Dad was horrified when he learned the state of his office, and his reaction when he saw his cars! (it was so funny but actually kind of pity-ish since he loved his cars) He had set about cleaning it as soon as he can while I sat beside him on the replaced carpet on the floor. I commented, while he was cleaning, about how he must have heard about the cars being unclean the week before he woke up. He laughed, saying that his subconscious must have panicked and woken up.

Of course, just when everything seemed to be looking up, one Nicky Harrison died in a car accident.

* * *

**This is pretty much just for you guys to have a general idea of the past of Carol's past life. R&R?**


	9. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone~! I'm baaaaaaack~**

**Thank you guys so much for the faves and follows and reviews and I have nooooooo idea what to say with all this gratitude I'm feeling, since I think would lead to much feels and I don't really want people to cry on me with this. We need to be happy, people, HAPPY!**

**So, welcome to chapter 8 of Metempsychosis! I don't know if anyone saw the question last chapter, but so far I've only got one suggestion of a Bot to be added in this fic...? I'll be sure to add Sunstreaker sometime in the future and I will not kill off Jazz, you hear me?! I AM NOT KILLING JAZZ. Rawr. I'm thinking of adding Thundercracker and Skywarp as Starscream's trine members but I'm still poking around to internet to see who I can still add. Any suggestions, anyone?**

* * *

_Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, only Carol!_

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**Chapter 7**

**...**

Just before Bumblebee drove off, I could hear the announcement about the NBE-1 cryo chamber failing. I tried to ignore it and ended up trying to come up with a theme song for this whole...event and stuff (Well, what would _you_ call it? The apocalypse via alien robot?). Of course, it was kind of itty bitty hard to even think about something important with all the alarms going off at our heads, besides the ones blaring on the walls. My focus was also shot since the Cube was doing something really _weird_.

I mean, like, it's right there beside me, sitting so innocently but I keep getting warm pulsing vibes in its general direction and it's driving me insane because it's like I'm sitting on a very warm (too much warm) vibrating chair. As much as it feels good for my legs, which are still shaky, it's driving the rest of me antsy and restless.

I kept fidgeting on the car seat, pulling on the seatbelt, pressing back against the back of the seat, leaning forwards and looking around as Bumblebee drove out the maze-like tunnels of the Dam. I suddenly realized that I was practically rubbing my butt around Bumblebee's interior (the car seat) and it was enough reason for my edgy body to suddenly stiffen up and try to keep tranquility.

"Remember the yoga," I told myself, remembering my previous life as Nicky, "Discipline over body and mind. Control. Lots of it. Or was that calm?" I muttered the last part, Nicky (my inner fangirl) grumbling about a droning, useless instructor. "Ah, I don't even care anymore." I sighed.

There was a mechanical chirp over the radio that seemed almost questioning and I looked at it, only blinking momentarily before I looked back at Lennox and the others who were following in all sorts of military cars. With big guns. Not that I'm afraid of it or anything, it's just that...it seems so pitiful against Ironhide's cannons. You gotta wonder if aliens just didn't bother to visit Earth because we'll just be killing them through bullets that would tickle them rather than hurt them. Huh. That's a pretty thought. Imagine Starscream dying via ticklish bullets, no offense to Starscream fans.

It wasn't long before we were out on the road, in open sunlight. I could imagine a happy Bumblebee taking advantage of the long smooth road as he drove on, racing in his Camaro alt mode, the engine running smoothly.

And the Cube was still doing the weird-pulse thing. Ugh.

Bumblebee seemed to want to accelerate and go faster but couldn't risk leaving behind the much slower military vehicles which were somewhat lagging behind. Imagine a race car accelerating for a while before going slower to wait the the others, then accelerating again. Like, go fast, slow down, wait, repeat. Yeah, something like that.

It wasn't long before I heard the truck, like, the _Big Boss truck_. I couldn't help it, I squealed in happiness. I think Bumblebee was surprised since he faltered for just a moment before getting back on road. I unlocked the seatbelt, poking my head out of the open window. My hair whipped about me, blowing it back along with the hood of my jacket.

"SAM!" I screeched, when I saw him Optimus's interior (How do you pronounce it? Like, Optimuses' or Optimus's or Optimus'? Optimi? Oh wait, that's plural form...Gah! I don't even care anymore!). Sam himself was pressing his hands against the Big Boss's window, and I could clearly see him mouthing 'Carol' happily. Optimus braked just as we passed by, leaving skid marks as he made an awesome u-turn that was so cool, as the others, namely Jazz, Ironhide and Ratchet, (in that order) followed him and did the same move.

Our convoy was easily taking up the two-way lanes, but obviously, people (us) were too cool to even follow that. Optimus drove right beside Bumblebee, easily keeping up with the Camaro muscle car. His windows were open and I could see Sam clearly, poking out his head the same way I was.

"SAM!" I waved at him like an idiot, even though we were nearly close enough as Optimus and Bumblebee drove next to each other.

"Carol! You have no idea how happy I am to see you!" he shouted back. Kind of hard to hear anything with the whippy wind going around us.

"I miss you spazzing out Sam! I need you to spazz out for me the moment we're in touching distance!"

He shot me this exaperated 'my-sister-is-weird-but-I-love-her-that-way' look. I only smiled cheekily at him. At least for one moment, we'd be like normal again, before everything else goes to hell.

"I got the AllSpark!" I shouted back at him when I remembered. "It was in Hoover Dam with a popsiclized Megatron! But Meggy broke out of the cryo chamber and is after us!"

"WHAT!" As expected, Sam began spazzing out. I could hear his somewhat panicked rambling though I can't make out the words. Trust him to understand weird words and still get the meaning of what you're trying to say.

"SAM!" I waved my hands around, trying to get his attention. "I'll update you on the latest happenings when we get to Mission City." And Sam was still spazzing out. "Dammit you idiot, stop that!"

We've been on the main road for a while and we must have made quite a sight with me, sticking out of a car window, waving around like an idiot while Sam was visibly panicking in Optimus (that actually sounds a bit wrong...).

I retreated back into Bee's interior, patting down my hair that was sticking up EVERYWHERE. "I hate having bad hair days." I informed Bee who replied with a few beeps. "I mean, I know I can't have perfect hair everyday but can't it at least be halfway manageable?"

My hair problems aside, I nearly got a whiplash when I heard sirens in the distance.

"Oh no. No way." I cannot believe I forgot this again! I looked back and saw Bonecrusher and Barricade. "Bee! It's the same cop car!" I avoided saying their names, knowing that it would get me in trouble, but either way, if no one takes care of them, then all of us are in trouble.

The radio fizzled into existence and I heard Ironhide's gruff voice speaking. _"I'll take care of Bonecrusher."_

Then, Optimus. _"Follow as soon as you can. We will need all the help that we can get."_

I heard whirrs and clicks next so I'm guessing Bumblebee said something. Obviously, I couldn't understand it.

Looking back, I saw Ironhide moving behind us and transforming, quickly spinning around and shooting at Bonecrusher and Barricade. Barricade moved to the other lane though, and sped away, while Bonecrusher transformed and tackled Ironhide right in the middle of the highway.

I kept looking back until I couldn't see the two anymore. "Ironhide'll be fine, right?" I asked Bumblebee worriedly, and he replied with a crooning sort of tune. "Yeah, he's real tough too, I guess, with all those cannons."

It was only a few minutes before we arrived at the main city. I got out of Bee quickly the moment we stopped and the soldiers were quick to follow, immediately setting up a barricade and telling people to evacuate. The others, parked close to Optimus, whose doors opened after a while to reveal Sam and Mikaela.

I ran over and charged into Sam, whose arms pulled me close. I buried my face in his chest, the relief and happiness I'm feeling nearly making me cry. The feels, man, the feels.

"I'm glad you're safe." I heard Sam say. "I was—I was worried."

"I know. I was too." I practically burrowed myself into his torso. Nicky was fizzling out in my head, yelling "Fluuuuuuuff!".

Strange girl.

Sam and I broke away just when Lennox began yelling orders to move out, the other soldiers moving out quickly. An F-22 flew overhead and I sucked in a breath when I realized that that was _Starscream_. Ratchet transformed, yelling, "It's Starscream!"

Suddenly, the Autobots were moving and Bee was right there, running to the truck with Ratchet right beside him. Optimus moved and motioned to Lennox and the others.

"Back up!" he boomed. "Take cover! Ratchet! Bumblebee!"

Suddenly, there was chaos, everywhere, people were running, screaming, and Optimus was trying to shield us and some of the soldiers, trying to to get us as far as he can, bodily blocking the incoming blast. Lennox was yelling, "Retreat! Fall back!" and soldiers were jumping out of the cars.

Mikaela, Sam and I ducked behind Optimus when we heard Ratchet yell, "Incoming!"

Then, fire, explosion and metals screeching. The sounds turned to ringing in my head and I clutched at my brother's jacket as the explosion rocked Optimus just a bit and I heard him give out a grunt as we were moved a bit.

I felt close to tears as I bit my bottom lip and stayed next to my brother. I knew what was coming but it can never really prepare me. Back then, when I heard a gun go off, I thought that was the loudest and scariest thing I've heard. I take it back now. I looked up when I can only hear the fire crackling in the distance. Optimus moved back a bit

I think Mikaela screamed, or maybe it was someone else, I can never know since I was staring, horrified at the legless Autobot who flew back from the blast.

"Ratchet...?" I breathed, and Sam looked at where I was looking. His mouth moving but no sound coming out as he stared horrifiedly at Ratchet's fallen form.

I heard Ratchet groan in pain, the wires and metal sparking where his legs should be. His torso was heavily dented, his left hand on a nearby car where the fingers were twitching ever so slightly. Optimus leaned back some more, giving us space and a better view of Ratchet's state.

"Oh my god..." I heard Mikaela gasp. "Ratchet! Your legs!"

No...no, no, no! What have I done?!

* * *

**Well, that escalated pretty quickly. Sorry for the short update, just thought it would be better if I end it here...**

**Don't forget! Suggestions for Bots and Cons to add in the fic in the nearby future! R&R?**


	10. Chapter 8

**Heeeeey dudes and dudettes~**

**I got nothing else to do so I pretty much decided to update. I don't know why I end up working on this much faster on weekdays rather than during weekends but I'd rather not think about it unless I make another life-changing revelation (guh)**

**Thank you so much to all those who reviewed and faved and followed, and I really am sorry that I don't reply to your reviews, but there's just so much to do now, and I really haven't the time. -cries-**

**So! Chapter 8 of Metempsychosis is here~ (I think I got the chapter number wrong again last chapter in my A/N...GDI!)**

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_Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, I only own Carol Witwicky._

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**Chapter 8**

_Previously..._

_I think Mikaela screamed, or maybe it was someone else, I can never know since I was staring, horrified at the legless Autobot who flew back from the blast._

_"Ratchet...?" I breathed, and Sam looked at where I was looking. His mouth moving but no sound coming out as he stared horrifiedly at Ratchet's fallen form._

_I heard Ratchet groan in pain, the wires and metal sparking where his legs should be. His torso was heavily dented, his left hand on a nearby car where the fingers were twitching ever so slightly. Optimus leaned back some more, giving us space and a better view of Ratchet's state._

_"Oh my god..." I heard Mikaela gasp. "Ratchet! Your legs!"_

_No...no, no, no! What have I done?!_

**...**

What happened? Ratchet...his legs...they were blown out...

Part of me was happy that it wasn't Bumblebee but I felt guilty just after the thought emerged. Instead of Bumblebee, it was Ratchet. I guess I have been making changes, I thought to myself wryly, guiltily. It's just not the way I expected the changes to be.

While I was halfway close to panicking inside my head, Sam had helped me up, leading my shaky self to Lennox (who was once again barking orders) and the other soldiers. Mikaela followed close, just keeping pace to Sam's right.

"Hey! Hey!" Sam called to Lennox but Lennox kept barking rapid fire orders to others.

Sam momentarily stopped trying to get the soldier's attention after a few moments when Epps went to Lennox and Lennox practically shouted in Epps' face. "What the hell was that?!"

"What are you talking about?" Epps replied, looking as frazzled as me but at the same time as calm as Lennox. Okay, maybe not as frazzled as me since I'm practically out of my wits and my hair was a mess (my headphones were still alive, or maybe just intact, I'd probably find out if they work soon, or maybe even never [and wasn't that a pleasant thought]), but maybe as frazzled as Mikaela who looked shaken but still standing strong, with only a few scrapes and looking a bit dirtied, but it still looked good on her (I was jealous of her ability to stay beautiful even with dirt, like a goddess in a storm or something...my God, Carol, snap out of it!).

"What do you mean, what am I talking about? They shot at us!" Lennox nearly, _nearly _semi-snarled the last part at Epps' face. Sam and Mikaela kept looking at Lennox and Epps, back and forth, back and forth, like it was a ping-pong match of words. Me? Oh, I was gaining my sanity (what's left of it anyways) back slowly, being able to not clutch at my brother like some deranged pedophile (okaaaaay, maybe my comparisons need some work, but cut me some slack! I nearly died!).

Epps' voice was the epitome of reasoning with a hint of fear and grim determination of some sort. "F-22's would never fly below buildings! That's alien! That ain't friendly!"

I had regained enough of my wits here at this time to escape my brother's embrace and rush over to Ratchet who was groaning and creaking, having turned over to lay on his front. Jazz was nearby, crouching next to him and helping him next to a car. I darted over upturned wheels and metal and all sorts of different items. I think I saw a hand under some boulder but I tried not to think about it.

"Ratchet!" I gasped breathily, crouching near his head, right next to Jazz's foot ('Pede.', corrected Nicky in my head but even her normally upbeat voice was subdued). Ratchet's head turned to me, his left eye sparking and flickering. "Ratchet." I said again.

"Carol...W-Witwicky." he said, static laced between words.

I couldn't help but look over his state of being and laugh slightly, the laugh itself not even fully covering the sob that threatened to break lose. "I-It's Carol. Carol. Just...just Carol."

Sam's arms circled my shoulders, I didn't even notice him next to me, or that I had covered my lower face with my shaking hands. I felt empty and yet I felt so much. Fear, for Ratchet, for Sam, for the Autobots and soldiers. Anger, at myself, for letting this happen when I could have changed it. Determination, to try and make up for the guilt gnawing at me inside.

Sam left me and turned to Bumblebee who had crouched next to us, and vaguely, I realized that Jazz had gone ahead with the soldiers. Mikaela helped me stand instead, murmuring comforting words in my ear.

I didn't want this. Definitely not.

Nearly my whole life, I've been preparing for this moment. Learning all these things I thought I could use for this event. I even joked to myself that I could be take Sam's place instead, becoming like all those Mary Sues and OCs I've seen in the fanfictions I craved as an adolescent. I participated in sports, to prepare my body. I took archery, gun training and lots more to prepare myself. I studied, became a genius, a prodigy, but now?

What happened?

What happened to everything I prepared for?

Why can't I get rid of this fear now? Why can I barely stand on my own?

I had prepared myself, taking years to do it. My second childhood was ruined, trying to learn everything I can before this event. The time I spent on this...it wasn't just time. It was my life. My second parents, Ron and Judy, had taken care of me when I had caught a fever from studying all night. Sam had berated me more that once to take a rest from my sports training when it was past afternoon. Behind the jokes in the dining room, I could see their pain, their worry when I pushed myself too hard again and had returned from breaking a bone or two from the hospital. I just...I guess I just never really...

...cared. For their concern.

Realizations suck, I told myself sadly, and Nicky agreed wholeheartedly.

I have something to fight for now. Why can't I do it?

Sam denied the Cube, and my eyes locked onto it. I can still feel its pulses, now even stronger in Sam's hands. Bumblebee was saying something, along with Optimus.

Does it know? I wondered. Does the AllSpark know Sam will destroy it?

Will Sam even do it now? Or did I change things again?

I might just be thinking all these things to take my mind off things, but even I knew I had to make a choice. Through all the fear and self-deprecation I was feeling, I knew I had to make a choice.

Stay with Sam? Or hide and run?

I nearly didn't notice the explosions that signified the arrival of Brawl...or, whatever the tank's name is. I didn't notice when Jazz and Bumblebee sped off to stop him or when Ironhide finally arrive, immediately transforming and shooting at him, scoring a hit on Brawl's face. Or when Mikaela sprinted off to hotwire the tow truck. I only noticed Sam and his near-protective hold on the Cube as we stayed close to Ratchet.

Sam looked honestly scared and seemed to want to just up and run someplace else. But he didn't. He kept his hold on the Cube tight, as we sat near some rubble next to Ratchet, even while his eyes darted from Ratchet and everywhere else, especially where the soldiers and the Decepticons were.

Sam kept strong, even when all this was dumped onto him. I had trained myself, and here I am, a mess. I scowled to myself. I have never felt so useless before.

Ratchet didn't speak, simply looking around with his transformed arm ready. Mikaela drove by just then, parking the truck just next to Ratchet. "Sam!" she called, jumping out of the driver's seat. "Help me with this." And Sam did, handing the Cube over to me once more. I scooted closer to Ratchet, nearly touching him, and he glanced at me before looking around, all alert and ready. "Be careful with that." he said, voice ending in static.

I looked up at him, a bit surprised that he spoke. "..I will." I said eventually.

I looked at the Cube in my hands, an idea suddenly forming in my head. "Ratchet?" I looked back up at him and he glanced down at me again. "Is it possible for you to get healed using the AllSpark?"

His brow sort of furrowed and he looked a bit surprised at the question. "What makes you say that?" he asked, and it almost sounded like it hurts just speaking, because the end cut off abruptly into static. I just noticed that his throat was sparking every now and then.

"You guys said that the AllSpark gave life to you." I told him, the last part nearly a mumble. "It might be possible to...heal you? With it's energy or something?"

Ratchet seemed to consider my words. "It is...possible." he said slowly. "But even then, I would not know how to access the energy."

I felt like wilting. "Not even just a touch?" I tried again.

"I...suppose it is worth a try." he said slowly, holding out a dented hand. I placed it on his hand eagerly, trying to see if anything would happen. Ratchet and I sort of stared at his hand but when nothing happened, I suggested, "Maybe your chest?"

Ratchet only stared at me. "It would not work, most likely."

"Come on! It's still worth a try!" I coaxed him and he stared at me for a moment before making an action similar to a sigh. Slowly, he raised his hand and placed the Cube on his chest. I watched it closely, waiting for anything at all to happen. When there was nothing, I just felt stupid. "Well, it was still worth a try." I mumbled and shrugged to myself.

Ratchet didn't move his hand though. "Ratchet?" I asked. He didn't move. He had an odd look on his face though. I felt confused. Did he lock up or something?

Suddenly, he began convulsing. I yelped and ended up stumbling away, trying to get out of Ratchet's limb's range. I heard Sam's and Mikaela's exclamation when Ratchet suddenly had electricity dancing all over him. On his armor, his head, his body, everywhere! Though it was mostly concentrated on his legs (or what's left of it).

What was amazing about it was the dents and scratches disappearing quickly, gashes closing up and dried energon disappearing. It was Mikaela who noticed the pieces of armor scattered some meters away come flying back to Ratchet. She pushed Sam and I away, ducking behind the tow truck to avoid getting impaled by some flying metal. I was the closest one to Ratchet, and had to hunch over as some pointed metal passed right over me.

It was gone in a few moments though, and all that's left is a groaning Ratchet with the AllSpark right in front of us.

"Well," started Sam. "I guess we don't need the tow truck anymore, huh?" Mikaela smacked him on his arm. Our momentary dumbfoundment (if that was a word) lasted only a while before everything else came crashing down.

"It's Megatron!" came Jazz's yell. It was quickly followed by Optimus's yell of "Fall back!".

My head snapped to my side the same time Ratchet's did in Jazz's general direction, and he quickly stood up (and I ended up marveling momentarily at how shiny his armor became), and sure enough, I can feel the vibrations of the concrete as Megatron came thundering into the city. Sam had this 'oh, shit' expression on his face while Mikaela stayed close to Sam, looking slightly fearful. Lennox came running then, leaving the others to start evacuating stubborn citizens who still stayed at the sidewalks and such.

"Okay." he panted, leaving his gun on the tow truck and rummaging through his stuff. "All right, I can't leave my guys back there, so here, take this flare."

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Why is he giving it to me?!

"What, no! Hey! Wait a minute—" I interjected but was cut off almost immediately.

"Okay, there's a tall white building with statues on top. Go to the roof, set the flare—"

I shook my head quickly. "I can't do this!"

Lennox plowed on, ignoring my protests. "Look, you gotta signal the chopper and set the flare."

I felt like crying. "I can't do this!" I cried. "I can't!" Okay, this is so not canon! What is happening?! I'm only supposed to help Sam, not do what Sam is supposed to do!

"Carol—" Lennox started but Sam butted in, spazzing out already in big brother mode. "Hey! You can't do that! She's only twelve!"

Lennox turned on him. "Then you do it!" he said, taking the flare out of my hands and pushing it on his. "Look, you gotta get the Cube to military hands while we hold them off, or a lot of people are going to die!" Sam looked terrified but didn't disagree. From the look on his face, he was probably thinking 'better me than her'. Awww, I love you too Sam. Hope we don't die, then.

Then Lennox turned on Mikaela. "You gotta go." he told her, taking her arm but Mikaela was quick to disagree.

"No, I'm not leaving!" she said forcefully, "I'm not leaving Sam." Oh god, so much changes, so much changes. When Lennox turned to me, I shook my head immediately and stuck to Sam's side. "I'm not leaving Sam either." I guess my decision is stay with Sam then.

Lennox just sort of sighed/nodded/okay-ed before leaving. Suddenly, Ratchet and Ironhide were there, with Ironhide crouching close to us. "Sam, Mikaela, Carol, we will protect you." At least that part is canon and it wasn't Bumblebee. I think Optimus was already battling Megatron some blocks away.

Sam seemed to be already out of breath. "Okay. Okay, okay." Then he turned and took the Cube, turning and beginning to run with me and Mikaela at his heels.

"Wait, Sam!" Mikaela said and Sam stopped for a moment, turning to her. I only stayed behind them, knowing what's going to happen next. "No matter what happens," she started, looking at Sam's eyes, "I'm really glad that I got into that car with you."

Sam was speechless. At least, until Ironhide annoyingly interjected into their moment. "Sam! Get to the building! Move!"

Sam turned and started to run, with Mikaela and I at his heels. I felt a shiver go down my spine when I heard Megatron's bellow of, "Decepticons, attack!"

Well, here goes nothing, then.

* * *

**I'm sorry for another short chapter! -bangs head on floor- I just thought it was good to end it here! -cries-**

**So ummm...review? -cringe-**


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